Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-09-07

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 5.5)

The provided illustration depicts the recycling procedure of used glass bottles.

Overall, it is vividly seen that the process commence with collecting discarded bottles which terminated with dilevery in supermarkets.

A glance is adequate enough to analyse that the thrown bottles are reached to the treatment plants through trucks. Treatment plant then wash the bottles by cleaning it with water to make them free from any dirt and leftover product. This is followed by sterilisation. Afterwards the clean bottles are crushed into fine powder before melting.

Turning to rest of details, the melted glass then go through moulding process in which glass take the shape of desired mould bottle. The finalised product the send to supermarkets for sale from where people again buy the bottles, use them and throw them in recycling bins and the procedure begins again.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The response fails to meet the minimum word count requirement of 150 words, which significantly impacts the task achievement. Furthermore, there is a major factual error: the prompt asks for a description of a process for recycling 'plastic bottles', but you have described the recycling of 'glass bottles'. This inaccuracy suggests a failure to read the prompt carefully. While you have identified the main stages of the process, the under-length and the misidentification of the material prevent a higher score. To improve, ensure you carefully check the subject matter of the diagram and expand your description of each stage to meet the length requirement.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organized into logical paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the process. You use some cohesive devices such as 'Overall', 'Afterwards', and 'Turning to rest of details' to link ideas. However, the flow is occasionally mechanical, and some transitions feel slightly forced. The paragraphing is appropriate for a process description, but the overall progression is hindered by the brevity of the text. To improve, try to vary your linking words and ensure that each sentence flows naturally into the next without relying on repetitive transition markers.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'sterilisation', 'moulding', and 'discarded'. However, there are some inaccuracies in word choice, such as 'dilevery' (spelling error) and 'the thrown bottles are reached to' (awkward phrasing). Additionally, the repeated use of 'bottles' could be improved by using synonyms or referring to the material as 'the plastic' or 'the material'. To reach a higher band, focus on using more precise collocations and ensure your spelling is accurate throughout the response.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The response contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors that occasionally impede clarity. Examples include 'the process commence' (subject-verb agreement), 'cleaning it' (pronoun reference error, as 'bottles' is plural), and 'the finalised product the send to' (missing verb/preposition). While the meaning is generally understandable, these persistent errors in tense and agreement limit the score. Focus on proofreading your work to catch basic subject-verb agreement issues and ensure that your sentence structures are grammatically sound.

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

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