Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.0 · 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 5.0)
The diagram here illustrates us, how the overall process of recycling of water bottles happens.
It starts with human being throwing plastic bottles in the garbage bin following that a garbage picker truck will come and will dump all the waste into back of his truck and transport that waste to the recycling centre where sorting of plastic bottles would happen because other waste shouldn't be mixed with the bottles then the bottles will be compressed into blocks and after that crushing of that blocks will start and the crushed particles will filtered out by the water before it goes to a machine from which the plastic pellets will be formed. Now the pellets would be heated at high temperature so they can be converted into raw materials and then with the help of raw materials products like Plastic containers, Plastic bag, Pens, and clothes and many other things are developed.
Through overall process we can see how our science has reached greater heights that it has started recycling plastic. It follows total of 9 steps to from garbage bin to recycling centre to crushing and heating, forming raw materials then coming again into our hand as different types of product . This cycle will repeat again and again.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5
The student successfully covers all stages of the plastic bottle recycling process, from the initial disposal in a garbage bin through sorting, crushing, washing, and pellet production, up to the creation of end products. The overview outlines the circular nature of the process reasonably well. However, the response suffers from some informal and irrelevant commentary in the final paragraph, such as 'how our science has reached greater heights,' which detracts slightly from the objective tone expected in Academic Task 1. Despite this minor digression, the core visual data is reported accurately and all nine main features of the diagram are touched upon, satisfying the band 6 requirements well.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0
The text is divided into three paragraphs, providing an introduction, body, and conclusion. However, the second paragraph is an extremely long run-on sentence that links multiple clauses with 'and' and commas, creating a lack of clear internal logical chunking and making the progression difficult to follow at times. Cohesive devices are basic and repetitive, frequently relying on 'and' or 'then'. Paragraphing is attempted, but the overall mechanical cohesion and excessive run-on structures pull this criterion down to a band 5.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.0
The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, successfully incorporating specific terms from the prompt such as 'recycling centre', 'sorting', 'compressed into blocks', 'crushing', 'washed', and 'plastic pellets'. However, there are noticeable word choice and collocation inaccuracies, such as 'human being throwing' instead of an individual or person, 'garbage picker truck' instead of a waste collection truck, and 'particles will filtered out' (missing auxiliary verb). The range of vocabulary is somewhat limited and repetitive, which places it firmly at band 5.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0
The response features a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, but control over grammar and punctuation is weak. The second paragraph is a massive run-on sentence containing numerous clauses strung together improperly. There are several grammatical errors, including subject-verb agreement issues ('illustrates us, how', 'crushing of that blocks'), missing articles ('to recycling centre'), and incomplete verb forms ('particles will filtered out'). These frequent errors can occasionally cause difficulty for the reader, aligning with the band 5 descriptors.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
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