Band 4.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 4.0 · 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 4.0)
Yes, Government labours are the pick in plastic bottles by a road, street and anything place in a garbage truck and truck go to the Recycling centre but bottles through in a Sorting or a one man pick a bottle and sorting. or bottles go to a machine and compressing into blocks or compress a bottle because a crushing a bottles and refind a washing and producing a plastic pellets or a convert into raw material but the convert into raw material it is the Heating a pellets to from raw material to convert a products with in a pencils, pointers, buallpents and marker etc. and anythings water bottles and go to the lunch in school in create tiffens or a school bags in a tyre bags woman purse and a jackets or a T-shirts or a woman shirts and man shirts.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 4.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 4.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 4.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 4.0 |
| Overall | 4.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.0
The response addresses the task only minimally and fails to present a clear overview of the overall recycling process. Furthermore, the length requirement is not met, as the text contains 142 words, falling short of the 150-word minimum. The student attempts to describe the stages depicted in the diagram, such as collection by a garbage truck, sorting, compressing, crushing, washing, and producing pellets, but the description is confused and lacks structure. Key features are not selected effectively, and the narrative becomes bogged down in minor, repetitive details regarding end products rather than giving a coherent account of the complete cyclical process.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.0
Information and ideas are not arranged coherently. The response is written as a single, massive run-on sentence without any paragraphing or appropriate logical progression. Cohesive devices are largely absent or misused, relying on repetitive conjunctions like 'or' and 'and' to string disjointed clauses together. There is no clear direction or logical sequencing guiding the reader through the nine stages of the diagram, making it difficult to follow the progression of the recycling process from start to finish.
Lexical Resource: Band 4.5
The vocabulary used is basic, repetitive, and strained. The student relies on elementary words and struggles with accurate word choice and collocation, substituting terms like 'labours' for workers, 'pick' for collection, and inventing non-standard phrases such as 'buallpents' and 'tiffens'. While some recycling-related terms are attempted—such as 'sorting', 'compressing', and 'plastic pellets'—frequent errors in word formation, spelling, and vocabulary choice impede communication and restrict the score to this band.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.0
The grammatical range is very limited, consisting almost entirely of a single, highly convoluted run-on structure rather than a mix of simple and complex sentences. Errors are frequent and severely distort meaning throughout the text. There is a lack of control over basic sentence boundaries, verb forms, articles, and prepositions, evidenced by fragments such as 'Government labours are the pick in plastic bottles by a road' and 'the convert into raw material it is the Heating a pellets'. Punctuation is virtually non-existent, further hindering readability.
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.
