Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-09-22

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 illustrate the various stages involved in the recycling of plastic bottles.

Overall, the recycling process begin with the collection of discarded plastic bottles and end with production of reusable products may later be discarded and re-enter the recycling process.

Starting with the initial stages,unwanted plastic bottles placed in trash bin before collected by the garbage collector truck and transport to recycling centre. there, they sorted by hand and seprate the unsuitable bottles to another container. The selected bottles are compressed into blocks and crushing them small pieces and subsequently washed.

In the remaining stages, the cleaned plastic transferred to another machine and convert them into pellets, after this heated pellets to produce raw material. ultimately, the raw material used to manufactured a variety of products, including plactics bottles box, pens shopping bags and t-shirt. Once these process have been used, some may be thrown those products away and again this procedure recycling, completed the cycle.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The student successfully addresses all parts of the task by reporting the main stages of the plastic bottle recycling process, from the initial collection to the creation of end products and the renewal of the cycle. Key features such as sorting, compressing, crushing, washing, pelletising, and manufacturing are identified and sequenced correctly. However, there are minor omissions in detailing every exact nuance of the diagram, and the overview is slightly simplistic. The response meets the 150-word requirement and presents a clear overall picture of the process, aligning well with the Band 6 descriptors.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The text is arranged with a logical overall progression, moving from the beginning to the end of the recycling loop. Paragraphing is utilised to separate the introduction, overall summary, initial stages, and remaining stages. However, cohesive devices are sometimes mechanical or missing, leading to choppy sentences, such as 'there, they sorted by hand and seprate the unsuitable bottles'. Referencing is occasionally unclear, and punctuation errors disrupt the flow in places. Overall, the organisation is coherent enough to merit a Band 6.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully using terms like 'collection', 'discarded', 'compressed', 'pellets', and 'raw material'. There are, however, several lexical errors and awkward word choices, such as 'plactics bottles box' instead of plastic bottle boxes, and spelling mistakes like 'seprate'. Less common items are attempted with varying degrees of accuracy. The vocabulary is minimally adequate to convey the intended meaning, placing it firmly at Band 6.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The response contains a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, but grammatical control is inconsistent. There are several noticeable errors, such as subject-verb agreement and tense issues in 'The diagram illustrate' and 'the recycling process begin', as well as missing auxiliary verbs and prepositions like 'unwanted plastic bottles placed' and 'transport to recycling centre'. Complex structures are often faulty. While these errors do not completely impede communication, they occur frequently throughout the text, corresponding to a Band 5.5 or 6.0; given the frequency of basic slips, a Band 5.5 is appropriate.

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

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