Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-11-14

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 6.0)

The diagram illustrates the various stages involved in the process of recycling plastic and create new things from it.

Overall, it is a nine stages. Cycling process that begin with collection of used plastic items and ends with the production of new things. The process involves sorting, compressing, crushing and heating the plastic before it is transformed into reusable material.

Initially, plastic waste is placed in recycling bins by the members of the public. These bins and then collected by specialized recycling truck and moved to the recycling center. At this facilities, sorting the plastic garbage and separate the reusable plastic from unusable plastic. And the next stage collected garbage compressed into large blocks before crushed into small pieces by the machinery. These spices moved to the wash for removing unnecessaries things. After cleaning, plastic producing by the machine to convert in to small plastic pellets.

Following this, small pellets heated to form new raw material. Which is prepared and store in boxes. At the last this row material is used to manufacturing a number of varieties including plastic bottles, t-shirts, pencils, bags and containers.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response7.0
Coherence and Cohesion6.5
Lexical Resource5.5
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.0
Overall6.0

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.0

You cover the main stages and give a clear overview: the process begins with public disposal and collection, then ends with new products made from recycled material. The sequence of sorting, compressing, crushing, washing, pellet production and heating is broadly consistent with the diagram, and your examples of end products are relevant. This gives the reader a good account of the process as a whole. To make the description more complete and precise, clarify that sorting separates accepted bottles from rejected items, and describe the final material as being prepared on a pallet rather than stored in boxes. The overview could also state explicitly that the diagram forms a continuous cycle, with end products returning to public use and disposal.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response has a recognisable structure, moving from an overview to the early stages and then to the later stages. Sequencing expressions such as “Initially,” “After cleaning,” and “Following this” help the reader follow the process, and the stages are generally presented in the correct order. However, some links are awkward or incomplete, for example “And the next stage collected garbage compressed…” and “Which is prepared and store in boxes.” These interrupt the progression and make the relationships between steps less clear. The overview also contains a sentence fragment, while the final paragraph could connect the raw material more clearly to the products and the cycle’s return to the beginning. More consistently complete sentences and clearer transitions would strengthen the flow.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant process vocabulary, including “recycling centre,” “compressed,” “crushed,” “pellets,” and “raw material,” which helps convey the stages. There is also some attempt to vary wording, such as “members of the public” and “specialized recycling truck.” However, several inaccurate or unnatural choices reduce precision: “spices” appears to mean “pieces,” “unnecessaries things” is not idiomatic, and “new things” is vague when describing the products. “Boxes” also mislabels the palletised raw material shown. Some word forms and collocations, including “plastic producing by the machine” and “used to manufacturing,” make parts harder to understand. Aim for accurate process collocations and use specific terms such as “plastic fragments,” “unwanted materials,” and “manufacture.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex structures, including a relative clause in “which is prepared and store in boxes” and a sequence of process descriptions. However, many sentences contain errors in clause construction, verb form, agreement, or articles, and these sometimes make the meaning difficult to follow. Examples include “it is a nine stages,” “that begin,” “These bins and then collected,” and “At this facilities, sorting…” The fragment “Which is prepared and store…” also cannot stand as a complete sentence, while “plastic producing by the machine” lacks a correctly formed passive verb. Work on complete sentence patterns and consistent passive forms, such as “the bottles are collected,” “the plastic is washed,” and “the pellets are heated.”

See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.

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