Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-09-28

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 process of recycling plastic bottles and transformed it into everyday essentials.

Overall, the recycling process mainly consists of 9 distinct phases, beginning with throwing plastic bottles into trash and concluding with producing several kind of useful products.

The recycle process starts when someone throw plastic bottle in trash, this waste transferred to recycling centre with the help of dedicated vechile. The main process kick off in the recycling center where staff separate only plastic bottles for further procedure. Next process involves, compressing huge number of plastic bottles into manageable blocks.

Furthermore, big blocks sent into heavy crushing machine which is responsible for producing plastic pellets, before further procedure these pellets washed with a liquid. After washing, with the help of a dryer the pellets dried out. Plastic pellets exposed to heat in order to melt all the pellets to produce a raw material. This raw material is now being used for producing essential items such as t-shirts, llunch boxes, pencils and shopping bags.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

The student successfully covers all the key stages of the recycling process depicted in the diagram, forming a complete overview from the initial collection to the final production of end products. The introduction provides a clear summary of the nine distinct phases, and the body paragraphs logically sequence the sorting, compressing, crushing, washing, pelletising, and heating stages. While some minor details regarding the exact loop cycle could be slightly more refined, the core information is accurately reported and fully answers the prompt requirements.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The text demonstrates a clear logical organisation and progression throughout. The response is appropriately divided into an introduction, an overview, and body paragraphs that follow the chronological flow of the diagram. Cohesive devices such as 'Overall', 'The recycle process starts', 'Furthermore', and 'After washing' are utilised to connect ideas effectively, although a few mechanical transitions and minor referencing issues prevent a higher band. Paragraphing is used sufficiently to structure the information.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary suitable for describing a process, incorporating terms such as 'recycling centre', 'compressing', 'crushing', 'plastic pellets', and 'raw material'. However, there are notable word form and choice errors throughout the text, such as 'transformed' instead of 'transforming', 'kind' instead of 'kinds', and spelling errors like 'vechile' and 'llunch'. These lexical inaccuracies prevent the response from achieving a higher band descriptor.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, incorporating relative clauses and participial phrases such as 'which is responsible for producing plastic pellets'. However, grammatical accuracy is inconsistent due to frequent missing articles, subject-verb agreement errors, and tense slips, such as 'when someone throw' instead of 'throws' and 'these pellets washed' instead of 'these pellets are washed'. While these errors do not severely impede communication, they restrict the score to a Band 5.5.

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

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