Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-10-05
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 process chat illustrate the information about recycling plastic bottles.
Looking from an overall perspective it is readily apparent that this process is a mechanical process, it contains 9 steps in this process, which are collecting bottles, using van, sending into recycling centre, compressing into blocks,crusting, producing plastic pellets, heating with raw material, making raw material and producing products.
Turning towards the details, initialy, people are collecting plastic bottles and through into the garbag box, after that the garbag van came to collecting these bottles with the help of crain. In the third steps, individuals are sorting out in the recycling centre into good one or bad one into the boxes. After that it went for compressing into blocks, where it crushing with cutter and than washing.
Moreover, the next step is producing plastic peeelts with the assist of machine. In the seventh step, raw material are start for hearting pellets to make raw material. In the final step, Products are ready for sells, which are t-shirt, bag, penciles, lunch boxs and botlle.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 6.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0
The response addresses all parts of the task by outlining the main stages of the plastic bottle recycling process, from the initial collection to the final production of end products. An overview is attempted at the beginning, noting that it is a mechanical process consisting of nine steps. However, some stages are more fully described than others, and certain details are slightly imprecise or repetitive, such as the mention of 'making raw material' twice near the end. While the general sequence is successfully reported and key comparisons or transitions between steps are touched upon, certain ideas remain somewhat under-developed, preventing the response from reaching a higher level of task fulfillment.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0
The text exhibits a coherent overall arrangement with a clear division between an introductory overview and subsequent detail paragraphs. Cohesive devices are employed to guide the reader through the stages, using sequencing words such as 'initialy', 'after that', 'Moreover', and 'In the final step'. However, referencing and cohesion are occasionally mechanical or slightly faulty, such as abrupt transitions between sentences and inconsistent paragraphing. The progression of ideas generally follows the visual flow of the diagram, but the mechanical nature of the linking devices and minor organisational flaws keep this criterion at the current level.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.0
The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary suitable for describing a simple mechanical process, attempting less common terms such as 'recycling centre', 'compressing into blocks', and 'plastic pellets'. However, there are numerous lexical and spelling errors throughout the text, including 'chat' instead of 'chart', 'garbag' instead of 'garbage', 'crain' instead of 'crane', 'crusting' instead of 'crushing', 'peeelts', 'hearting', and 'sells' instead of 'sales'. While these errors do not completely impede communication, their frequency and the noticeable issues with word form and spelling restrict the lexical score.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0
The writing demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, though attempts at complex structures are often affected by grammatical inaccuracies. There are frequent errors in verb tenses, articles, plurals, and prepositions, such as 'The process chat illustrate', 'people are collecting... and through into the garbage box', 'van came to collecting', and 'raw material are start for hearting'. Punctuation is also occasionally unreliable. Although communication is maintained and the reader can follow the general meaning, the presence of frequent grammatical errors means the control of language remains typical of this band.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.