Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-09-25

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 5.0)

The diagram outline the stages of recycling plastic bottles. This process consist of nine stages such as compressing into block, producing plastic pellets and raw material.

Overall, This process is start by wasting a bottle by single person, in the middle stage it crushed into pieces and at last stages production and products.

At first a person waste a bottle after using and it throw into dustbean and it can carry by truck of rubbishes. In next stage bottle is reached at recycling center its called sorting it will be compressing into block there a lot of bottle is located for recycled.

In center of process bottle who had stored is crush by crushing machines after this it is converted into small balls of plastics those are called pellete. Healthy pelletrs converted raw materials and with the used of raw materials different kind of products is produced its final stage of this process.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

The response attempts to cover the nine stages of the plastic bottle recycling process, as seen in phrases like 'compressing into block' and 'producing plastic pellets'. However, the description is heavily fragmented and lacks sufficient detail or precise explanation of the cyclical nature of the diagram. Key stages are mentioned superficially, leading to under-developed ideas. For example, the overview and body paragraphs omit critical intermediate steps such as washing and heating pellets. While the student identifies the general topic, the execution is incomplete and contains inaccurate summaries of the visual data. These limitations place the performance at band 5.0.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The text is organized into basic paragraphs, but the logical progression is frequently disrupted by poor sentence construction and weak cohesion. Transitional markers are either missing or misused, as seen in 'At first a person waste a bottle... and it throw into dustbean and it can carry by truck of rubbishes.' Referencing pronouns are often unclear, making it difficult to follow the sequence of the recycling steps. Paragraphing is attempted, but internal cohesion is faulty and mechanical. This demonstrates the characteristics of a band 5.0 in coherence and cohesion.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is very limited and basic, with frequent word-choice errors that occasionally impede understanding. Examples include 'waste a bottle' instead of 'dispose of a bottle', 'dustbean' instead of 'dustbin' or 'recycling bin', and 'pellete' for pellets. Although the student attempts some less common technical terms related to the prompt such as 'compressing' and 'pellets', their control over word formation, spelling, and collocation is weak. The lexical range is minimally adequate for the task, aligning with a band 5.0 score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.0

The text displays a very limited range of grammatical structures. Most sentences contain significant errors in tense consistency, subject-verb agreement, and basic syntax. Examples of flawed constructions include 'This process is start by wasting a bottle' and 'bottle who had stored is crush by crushing machines'. Run-on sentences and punctuation errors are prevalent throughout the response. Because frequent grammatical errors cause considerable difficulty for the reader and simple structures are marred by inaccuracies, a band 4.0 is appropriate for this criterion.

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

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