Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-10-07

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 given diagram demonstrates the steps for recycling plastic bottles.

Overall, it can be seen that the process of recycling plastic bottles are complex including many steps. In this process from a used plastic turns out into a new useable product.

Looking at the process in more detailes, it all start with collecting used plastic bottles by a truck and sending them to recycling center. After reaching there those bottles pass through sorting where they are choosen by the quality. After that, sorted botlles compressed into blocks by pressing them. Then, they are get crushed by two spinning giant wheels turing those blocks into small parts. They are washed by water to be get cleaned and then they enter into a heating machine where they are turend into raw matarial. In conclution, now from raw matarial more products wil be made by them.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify the topic and give a basic overview that the process has several stages and turns used plastic into a new product. The description also includes sorting, compression, crushing, washing and heating, which are relevant features. However, the account is incomplete: it omits the initial act of placing bottles in a recycling bin, the production of pellets, the raw-material stage as a separate step, and the range of end products. The final sentence is also vague about what is made. The overview could more clearly explain that this is a closed cycle. The response is 143 words, below the required 150, so it needs a little more detail as well as fuller coverage of the diagram.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear basic structure: an introduction, an overview, and a paragraph following the process in sequence. Linking expressions such as “After that,” “Then,” and “In conclusion” help the reader follow the stages. This coherent overall arrangement supports the explanation. However, the final transition is not quite appropriate because the process does not conclude at raw material; it continues to the manufacture of products and loops back to the start. Some references, such as “they” in “they are get crushed,” are also unclear. To improve progression, describe each stage in order and make the cycle explicit, using precise references such as “the bottles” or “the plastic.”

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use some task-relevant vocabulary, including “recycling center,” “sorting,” “compressed,” “crushed,” and “raw material,” so the main process is generally understandable. There is also an attempt to describe machinery with “two spinning giant wheels.” However, the range is limited and several word-choice, collocation, and spelling problems reduce precision: “new useable product,” “by the quality,” and “more products wil be made by them” are awkward or unclear. Misspellings such as “botlles,” “matarial,” and “conclution” are noticeable. Use the diagram’s specific terms, including “pellets” and “end products,” and choose natural process language such as “sorted according to quality” and “manufactured from the raw material.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, including a relative clause in “where they are choosen by the quality” and a sequence of linked process steps. However, grammatical control is inconsistent, and errors occur in basic agreement, verb forms, and sentence construction. For example, “the process … are complex” should use a singular verb, while “it all start” needs a third-person singular form. The passive constructions are often faulty: “they are get crushed” and “to be get cleaned” should be recast as “they are crushed” and “to be cleaned.” The sentence “In this process from a used plastic turns out…” is also structurally incomplete. Practise accurate passive forms for describing processes and check agreement in each sentence.

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