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 pictorial given is describing the method of recycling the plastic bottles that how these bottles can be changed into other useful products.

As we can have a look on the first given portrait. An old man is putting his left over plastic bottles in the garbage cart. These plastic bottles will be collected by garbage truck to send them to recycling factory.

In the factory, bottles get separated into different kinds. After separating they convert them into a block and then crush it using heavy machinery. The main purpose of crushing it is to turn them into small pieces so they become easy to wash.

After they get clean like new ones factory again crush them and give them grain like structure so the can melt easily and turn them into new raw materials. After this, raw material send to consumers to reshape it into some useful stuff like bottles or etc.

The plastic is recycled into raw material to generate new things using this raw material.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify the general purpose of the diagram and describe several central stages, including collection, sorting, compression, crushing, washing and conversion into raw material. However, the account is only partial: it omits the production of plastic pellets and the heating of those pellets, and it does not explain that the raw material is used to manufacture end products before the cycle returns to the recycling bin. Some details are inaccurate or unsupported: the diagram does not specify an old man, a garbage cart, or that bottles are separated into different kinds; sorting instead separates acceptable from rejected bottles. The final overview repeats the general idea rather than summarising the complete cycle. Include all major stages and describe the closed-loop process accurately to develop the response more fully.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a basic sequence, moving from disposal and collection through factory processing to the creation of new products. Paragraph breaks also separate the opening from the process description. However, progression becomes unclear in places: “After they get clean like new ones factory again crush them” does not clearly connect washing to pellet production, and the final sentence repeats the idea of making new things without advancing the account. Linking phrases such as “After separating” and “After this” help, but the stages would be easier to follow if each transition named the next process and the paragraphs followed the diagram’s full cycle. Use clear references for the bottles, pellets and raw material so that “they” and “it” cannot be misinterpreted.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some relevant process vocabulary, including “recycling,” “crush,” “wash,” “raw materials” and “machinery,” so the topic is generally understandable. However, the range is limited and several choices are imprecise or unnatural for describing this diagram. “Garbage cart” and “garbage truck” do not accurately convey a recycling bin and collection truck, while “grain like structure” is an unclear substitute for plastic pellets. Phrases such as “useful stuff” and “or etc.” are informal and vague, and “portrait” is not an appropriate term for the diagram. Aim for precise process terms and formal descriptions of the products; this will make the account clearer without requiring unnecessarily advanced vocabulary.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response attempts some longer sentences and uses sequencing clauses, for example, “After separating they convert them into a block and then crush it.” However, the range is limited, and frequent errors in sentence construction and verb forms sometimes make the process difficult to follow. Examples include “is describing the method … that how,” “they convert them into a block,” and “raw material send to consumers,” where clause structure, agreement or passive forms are not controlled. There are also errors in articles and number, as in “a block” followed by “it” for multiple bottles. Practise accurate passive constructions for process descriptions, such as “the bottles are sorted” and “the material is sent,” and check agreement and sentence boundaries.

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