Band 4.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 4.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-10-03
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 4.5)
DAY BYE DAY THE PLASTIC ARE MORE POLLITUDE OUR ENIVERMENT . BECAUSE THE PLASTIC CAN NOT DISTROY FOR ANY THING SO THE ONCE AN ITEA FOR THE PLASTIC CAN USE A RECYCLING.
FIRSTLY, I WOULD LIKE TO SHARE HOW PLASTIC BOTLLES ARE RECYCLED. ALL THE PLASTIC CAN COLLECT OF SAPRATING RECYCLE DUSTBIN LIKE PLASTIC BOTTLES , PLASTIC BAGS AND SO ON . THEN THE GARBAGE VAN CAN COLLECT ALL OF PALASTIC THEN THE GO TO RECYCLING CENTRE AND SAPRATE ALL THE PLASTIC THINGS TO DO RECYCLING THEN ALL OF PLASTIC TO COMPRESSING INTO THE BLOCKS TO MINIMISE.THEN ALL BLOCKS TO WAY IN CRUSHING MACHIN AND CRUSH THE ALL THE PLASTIC BLOCKS ALL THE PLASTIC PICE OF SMALL THIN PROUDER TYOE NEXT THEY ALL THE WASHING THE PRODUCING PLASTIC PELLETS AND HEATING PELLETS TO FROM RAW MATERIAL . THE OVER ALL RAW MATTERIAL TO COLLECT AND MAKE A NEW THING TO READY TO USE AGAIN , THE ALL THE PROCESS TO CONTINOU AGAIN AND AGAIN .
THEY HAVE NOT GOOD FOR OUR ENIVERMENT BECAUSE THE PLASTIC CAN NOT THE DISOLVE FOR ANY THING SO THE BEST WAY TO USE PLASTIC RECYCLING AGAIN AND AGAIN AND USE IT WELL.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 4.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 4.0 |
| Overall | 4.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0
The response addresses the task only partially, presenting a summary of the plastic bottle recycling process that outlines several main stages from collection to raw material and end products. However, the explanation is frequently hindered by heavy repetition and vague descriptions. For instance, the writer repeats the point about plastic not dissolving and needing recycling multiple times at the beginning and end of the text. While the sequence of steps such as sorting, compressing, crushing, washing, and producing pellets is mentioned, the details are limited and under-developed, making it difficult to follow the precise mechanical flow of the diagram without relying heavily on the prompt's visual layout. To move to a higher level, the response would need to present a clearer, more fully developed overview of all key stages without redundant commentary.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0
The text demonstrates some basic organisation with transitional markers such as 'FIRSTLY' and 'THEN', but there is no clear overall progression due to run-on sentences and dense paragraphs. Cohesive devices are used repetitively and often inaccurately, with excessive reliance on words like 'then' and 'all of' to link clauses. Paragraphing is poorly handled, as the entire core explanation is crammed into one very long, breathless block of text without proper logical division between the initial collection phase, the processing stages, and the final manufacturing outcome. Referencing is frequently unclear, meaning the reader struggles to follow which object or material is being referred to from one clause to the next.
Lexical Resource: Band 4.5
The vocabulary used is very limited and basic, with frequent lexical errors that impede communication. There are noticeable issues with word choice, word form, and spelling throughout the response, such as 'pollitude' for pollute, 'eniverment' for environment, 'distroy' for destroy, 'botlles' for bottles, 'saprating' for separating, and 'machin' for machine. The writer attempts some less common technical vocabulary from the diagram such as 'compressing', 'crushing', and 'plastic pellets', but these terms are often accompanied by severe collocation and spelling inaccuracies, such as 'pice of small thin prouder tyoe'. To improve, the student needs to expand their control of spelling, word forms, and vocabulary related to industrial processes.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.0
The grammatical range is severely limited, consisting mainly of simple structures and highly faulty attempts at complex or compound sentences. There are frequent, persistent errors in grammar that cause significant difficulty for the reader, including missing or incorrect articles ('the plastic are more pollitude our eniverment'), severe subject-verb agreement issues ('the garbage van can collect... then the go'), incorrect prepositions, and improper verb forms ('can not distroy', 'to way in crushing machin', 'all the washing the producing'). Punctuation is also problematic, with run-on sentences joined by commas or conjunctions rather than proper sentence boundaries. A stronger control of basic sentence structures, verb tenses, and agreement is required to raise this criterion.
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