Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-11-11

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

The diagram below shows the process for recycling plastic bottles.

Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

How plastic bottles are recycled

Student answer (Band 6.5)

The schematic diagram demonstrates the various phases involved in the recycling of plastic bottles and production of different material yielded from plastic.

Overall, the process involved collection of household waste material from bins their transport to recycling industry,finding out plastic bottles from garbage,compression, grinding, washing, pellets production, melting of pellets and finally production of material such as T-shirts ,pencils,disposable boxes and plastic bottles.

According to the illustration, plastic is recyclable material and its recycling involved various stages. The process commence with the collection of waste materials from various litter boxes.Afterwards, this garbage is transported to the recycling centres by specific garbage collecting vehicles.In recycling factories the plastic bottles are sorted out from wastage.These bottles are compressed into blocks by specific machines. Then,compressed material undergoes the process of grinding .Next step is washing of crushed material. This crushed material is transformed into small pellets.After that these pellets are melted to produce raw material for the manufacturing of T- shirts , pencils,platic bottles and plastic boxes. The recycling process goes on again and again in the same way after disposing off used plastic materials.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.0

You cover the main stages accurately, from putting bottles in bins and collection to sorting, compression, crushing, washing, pellet production, heating, and making new products. The overview also identifies the process as cyclical, which is an important feature, and your examples of T-shirts, pencils, boxes and bottles are supported by the diagram. The account is generally clear and relevant, though some details are generalised: for example, “specific machines” and “various litter boxes” are not shown, and the sorting stage’s separation of acceptable bottles from rejected waste is not explained. To strengthen the response further, describe the final raw-material stage and the arrows returning from end products to the start more precisely.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, an overview, and a chronological account of the stages. Sequencing expressions such as “Afterwards,” “Then,” “Next step,” and “After that” help the reader follow the process, and the final sentence returns to the cycle. However, the progression is sometimes mechanical, with several stages joined in a long sequence rather than grouped into clear phases. The overview also repeats much of the stage list that follows. Some links between ideas are abrupt, particularly the move from pellets to the products made from the raw material. Grouping collection and sorting, processing, and manufacture into distinct paragraphs, while using clearer references such as “these pellets” and “the resulting raw material,” would make cohesion more flexible.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use a suitable range of process vocabulary, including “compressed,” “grinding,” “pellets,” “melted,” and “manufacturing,” and the reader can understand the stages. There are also attempts at more formal phrasing, such as “the schematic diagram demonstrates.” However, some choices are imprecise or unnatural: “production of different material yielded from plastic” is unclear, “litter boxes” does not accurately describe recycling bins, and “specific garbage collecting vehicles” is unnecessarily awkward. Spelling slips such as “platic” and inconsistent spacing also reduce accuracy. Prefer concise, conventional process terms—for example, “recycling bins,” “collection truck,” and “raw material”—and check spelling and collocations during revision.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and more complex sentences, including the overview’s sequence of stages and the final sentence describing the cycle. Meaning is generally recoverable, but grammatical control is uneven. For example, “The process commence” needs subject–verb agreement, while “its recycling involved” shifts awkwardly in tense; “The process involved collection … from bins their transport” also lacks a clear grammatical connection between the actions. Articles and sentence boundaries need attention in phrases such as “in recycling factories” and in the long overview list. Use consistent present simple for a process diagram (“begins,” “is transported,” “is sorted”), and divide long sequences into complete sentences. More accurate control of these patterns would make your range easier to follow.

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