Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-10-10

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 5.0)

Well this is an intresting topic about how to recycling plastic bottles the given chart show us 9 parts of recycling plastics bottles that contain from trash, collecting, sorting, compressing into block, crushing and washing, producing plastic pallets, healing pallets to raw material, raw material and producing and products.

First of all people use plastic bottles and then throw in trash and than workers collects bottle from trash than the workers sent bottles to recycling center where they sort bottles than they compress all these bottles into blocks using machines and than these blocks sent at crushing point and crush it and wash at same point.

After all these steps washed material sent into producing plastic pallets point after it sent to that one point where these pallets heal into raw material than these raw material used for producing and products this is the last stage of recycling plastics bottles after this all these steps are repeated same.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

The response identifies the main stages, including collection, sorting, compressing, crushing and washing, pellet production, heating, and making end products. It also recognises that the process repeats, which is an important feature of the diagram. However, the account is only partly accurate and developed: it says bottles are thrown “in trash,” whereas the diagram shows a recycling bin, and it does not clearly explain that unsuitable bottles are rejected during sorting. The overview is also weak; the opening mainly lists stages rather than summarising the process as a closed loop that turns discarded bottles into new products. A clearer overview and more precise reporting of the sorting and final return to the start would make the description more complete.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response follows the general order of the process, and phrases such as “First of all” and “After all these steps” help signal sequence. The final sentence also attempts to connect the end products back to the beginning. However, most information is packed into two long paragraphs, with the first paragraph combining an introduction and a stage list. Repeated use of “than” and “after” makes the progression mechanical, while unclear references such as “that one point” and “this is the last stage” make some links difficult to follow. Organise the answer into a brief overview and clearly separated process stages, and use precise references such as “the pellets” or “the resulting raw material” to improve flow.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The response uses some relevant process vocabulary, including “sorting,” “compressing,” “crushing,” “washing,” and “raw material,” so the reader can identify the main operations. However, the range is limited and several word choices or spellings reduce precision: “plastic pallets” is used for pellets, “healing” for heating, and “producing and products” for producing end products. Phrases such as “crushing point” and “at same point” are also imprecise for describing stages in a process. Aim to use the diagram’s accurate terms and vary basic verbs with suitable process language, for example “is transported,” “is sorted,” and “is converted into.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.5

The response attempts to connect stages in longer sentences, but these structures are often faulty, and sentence boundaries are not controlled consistently. For example, “people use plastic bottles and then throw in trash and than workers collects bottle” contains missing articles, incorrect agreement, and several clauses joined without clear punctuation. Similar problems occur in “these raw material used,” where the verb is missing, and “after this all these steps are repeated same,” which has an incomplete construction. Most sentences rely on repeated “and then” patterns, so the range of structures is limited. Practise accurate passive forms for process descriptions, such as “The bottles are collected and transported,” and use full stops to separate stages.

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