Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-08-24

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 how plastic bottles are recycled.

Overall, the plastic bottles goes through a series of nine stages before it transformed into end products. The process begins with throwing plastic bottles into recycle bin before being collected by recycling truck, followed by sorting, compressing, crushing, washing, slitting, heating, and producing.

Firstly, people need to thrown the plastics bottles or containers into dedicated recycling bin for plastic products before it collected recycling truck. Once it being collected, the plastic products will send to recycling centre to sorted by hands to prevent unrecyclable bottles goes into next process. After sorted out the bottles, it will compressed into blocks before crushed into tiny bits. The crushed bits has to washed before goes into shredding machine to shredded into even smaller pellets.

After this, small bits are heated to transformed into raw plastic materials. Finally, the raw materials will be packed and ready to produced the end products.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The response covers all stages of the recycling process, from collection to the production of end products. You have successfully identified the main features and provided a logical summary. However, the overview is slightly simplistic; to reach a higher band, ensure the overview highlights the cyclical or transformative nature of the process more clearly. While all steps are mentioned, the description of the final stages could be more precise regarding the transformation of materials. Overall, the task is addressed well, and the information is accurately reported based on the provided diagram.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is logically organized into an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. You use basic cohesive devices such as 'Firstly', 'Once', 'After this', and 'Finally' to guide the reader through the process. However, the flow is occasionally mechanical, and some transitions feel repetitive. The paragraphing is appropriate, but the internal cohesion within the second paragraph could be improved by varying the sentence structure rather than relying on a sequence of similar clauses. Referencing is generally clear, though some pronoun usage is slightly awkward.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using process-specific terms like 'recycling centre', 'shredding machine', and 'raw plastic materials'. However, there are several instances of word-choice errors and awkward collocations, such as 'slitting' (which may not be the most accurate term for the process shown) and 'producing the end products'. There is also a lack of variety in your verbs; you rely heavily on basic verbs like 'go', 'send', and 'make'. To improve, try to incorporate more precise technical vocabulary and avoid repeating the same verbs.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

There are frequent grammatical errors throughout the text, particularly with verb forms and subject-verb agreement. For example, you wrote 'the plastic bottles goes' instead of 'go', 'people need to thrown' instead of 'throw', and 'it being collected' instead of 'it is collected'. These errors are persistent and occur in both simple and complex structures. While the meaning remains clear, the high frequency of these basic errors prevents the essay from reaching a higher band. You should focus on mastering subject-verb agreement and the correct use of passive voice, which is essential for describing processes.

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

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