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 information provided in the given process diagram illustrates the strategy how plastic bottles are recycling.
Overall, it is quite evident from the mentioned diagram that there are nine stages in the whole plastic bottles recycling, beginning with public dustbin where people drop spare bottles and ending with final produced products such as T-shirts, bags, pans, boxes and new bottles.
To begin, there is an public dustbin which used by the local people to drop damage or unused bottles. Then these bottles are transferred toward a recycling centre through a large truck. Following this, these bottles are now reach and sorted manually by a worker to isolate different kinds of bottles in separate boxes. Next, the sorted bottles are now compressed into blocks using a compressor machine. After that, these compressed blocks are crushed view crushing machine and then washed to clean it from other raw materials.
In the subsequent stage, the crushed bottles are forwarded to another machine to produced plastic pellets from the washed materials. In the next step, these pellets are heated to form raw materials. In the second last stage the raw materials are ready to use for final goods. Finally, the end products are produced from these raw materials like new bottles, lunch boxes, T-shirts, shopping bags, and many more.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 6.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0
The student successfully covers all parts of the task by outlining the main features of the plastic bottle recycling process, spanning from the initial collection in public bins to the production of final goods at stage nine. The overview effectively captures both the beginning and the end of the 9-stage closed-loop process. However, some minor details are described rather simplistically or with slight inaccuracies, such as stating that bottles are washed 'to clean it from other raw materials', which misses the precise mechanical and chemical steps depicted. Nonetheless, the information is clearly reported and satisfies the main requirements of Academic Task 1.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The text is organized with a clear overall progression, moving logically through the stages of the diagram from the initial collection truck to final end products. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the introduction, the overview, and the sequential steps of the process. Cohesive devices such as 'To begin', 'Then', 'Following this', and 'In the subsequent stage' are employed to guide the reader through the cycle. However, some referencing is slightly awkward or repetitive ('these bottles', 'these compressed blocks'), which slightly detracts from the fluency of cohesion.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary suitable for describing a sequential process, utilizing terms such as 'process diagram', 'compressor machine', 'crushed', 'washed', and 'plastic pellets'. However, there are notable word-form and collocation errors throughout the text, such as 'strategy how plastic bottles are recycling' instead of 'how plastic bottles are recycled', 'final produced products' instead of 'final products', and 'view crushing machine' instead of 'via crushing machine'. These lexical inaccuracies prevent the score from reaching a higher band.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The response displays a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, but control over grammatical accuracy is inconsistent. There are several noticeable grammatical errors, including subject-verb agreement issues ('there is an public dustbin which used by...'), missing articles ('an public dustbin'), and tense inconsistencies or awkward passive constructions ('these bottles are now reach and sorted'). While these errors do not completely impede communication, their frequency prevents the score from rising above a Band 5.0.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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