Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-09-17
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 procedure through which plastic bottles are recycled by going through various steps for production of numerous plastic products.
Overall to recreate the goods by recycling them the garbage is collected, plastic is sorted, and goes through compression, crushing, washing, and by heating it is converted into raw material.
People dumped garbage in their respective bins. The garbage is collected by trucks and transported to recycling centre, where plastic products are separated by the manpower in a box. The separated plastic is then compressed in multiple square blocks followed by the crushing in a machine known as a shredder. The crushed material is washed and went through a machine where small plastic pelets are produced. These pellets are converted into raw material by heating. At last using that raw material various different products are manufactured and then the cycle goes on.
In conclusion the plastic waste is recycled to produce the raw material to reuse in production of other plastic items.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 6.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 6.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5
The candidate successfully covers all the main stages of the plastic bottle recycling process, starting from throwing bottles into a bin up to the production of new end products. An overview is provided in the second paragraph, outlining the main steps of the process as required by Task 1 conventions. The student accurately reports the sequence, mentioning sorting, compression, crushing, washing, pellet production, heating, and final manufacturing. While some minor details could be slightly more elaborated, the response fully addresses all parts of the task with relevant and accurate information, earning a solid Band 7.0.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0
The text exhibits a clear overall progression, moving logically from the initial collection stage through the intermediate processing steps to the final manufacturing stage. Paragraphing is adequately used to separate the introduction, overview, body description, and conclusion. Cohesive devices such as 'The separated plastic is then', 'followed by', and 'At last' are employed to guide the reader through the sequence. However, some transitions feel slightly mechanical or repetitive in structure. Referencing is generally clear, though paragraph 3 could benefit from tighter integration of sentences to enhance the flow.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary suitable for a process diagram, including appropriate technical terms such as 'compressed', 'shredder', 'pellets', and 'raw material'. There are some attempts at less common vocabulary ('manpower', 'respective bins'). However, a few lexical inaccuracies occur, such as 'pelets' (spelling error) and 'went through' instead of 'goes through' or 'is passed through'. The vocabulary is sufficient to convey the process clearly, but word choice lacks the precision and flexibility required for higher band levels.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The response demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as 'The garbage is collected by trucks and transported to recycling centre, where plastic products are separated...' Grammatical control is generally decent, but there are several minor errors, such as article omission ('transported to recycling centre' instead of 'to a recycling centre') and tense inconsistency ('went through' instead of present tense verbs like 'goes through', given that process descriptions generally use the present simple). Punctuation is mostly sound, and these errors do not impede overall communication.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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