Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-09-21
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 diagram illustrates the process of recycling plastic bottles.
Overall, there are eight different stages of process, beginning with people putting the bottles into the recycling bins and lastly the raw material are used to manufacture the end product.
Firstly, people put the used bottles into the recycling bins. Trucks collect waste and go from the recycling centre. This waste is separated into two different boxes and apply the sorting process. After sorting, bottles are compressed into blocks. Next, blocks are crushed in the two rotating grinders and producing small plastic pellets and it is washed into water drum and then dried the pellets. Workers heating the plastic pellets to form raw material through the machine. Next stage, the material shaping blocks and packed to the wooden rack for further processing. Lastly, raw material are used to manufacture the different product such as plastic bottles, plastic boxes and pencils.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The response covers the overall stages of the plastic bottle recycling process, starting with consumer disposal and ending with manufacturing new end products. However, there is a minor error in stating there are eight stages when the diagram actually depicts a nine-stage cycle. Additionally, the response falls just short of the 150-word minimum, containing 149 words, which results in a slight penalty under Task Achievement. While the main steps such as sorting, crushing, washing, and pelletising are mentioned, some details are slightly confused in their sequence, for example, mixing up the washing and pellet-producing stages. Overall, the content addresses the visual data satisfactorily, but the word count deficit and minor miscount of stages prevent a higher score.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The text has a clear overall progression from the beginning to the end of the recycling process. The student uses basic sequencing expressions such as 'Firstly', 'After sorting', 'Next', and 'Lastly' to guide the reader through the stages. However, paragraphing is underdeveloped, as almost the entire response is condensed into a single block of text following the introduction, lacking adequate paragraph breaks. Cohesive devices are sometimes mechanical or repetitive, and referencing is occasionally unclear, such as 'it is washed into water drum and then dried the pellets'. Despite these shortcomings, the logical flow of the process remains mostly understandable.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The student demonstrates an adequate vocabulary range for describing a process, successfully using words such as 'recycling centre', 'compressed', 'grinders', 'pellets', and 'manufacture'. However, there are noticeable word choice and collocation inaccuracies that detract from the quality, such as 'apply the sorting process', 'workers heating', and 'the material shaping blocks'. Spelling is generally accurate, but the lack of precise lexical control and occasional awkward phrasing limit the score to a 5.5 band level.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The response exhibits a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, including relative clauses and passive constructions like 'raw material are used to manufacture'. There are several grammatical errors present, particularly subject-verb agreement issues (e.g., 'raw material are', 'blocks are crushed... and producing') and awkward phrasing ('and then dried the pellets'). Punctuation is basic, but communication of the core process is rarely impeded by these grammatical slips, allowing the writing to comfortably meet the criteria for Band 6.0.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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