Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · 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 5.5)

The given process diagram gives the procedure of how plastic bottles are recycled.

Firstly, there is a recycled marked trash trolley, where all the empty plastic bottles can be thrown. Once it is full, grabge truck loads the empty plastic bottles and transport them to the factory.

Now there is a sorting process where better plastic bottles gone for the futher process while the other bottles will be rejected. Then the approved bottles are compressed into the blocks. Then the block further gone to the crushing process where the crushed particles will be washed and then move forward.

Now the washed particles are producing in plastic pellets, and those platics pellets will be heated to form raw material. Those raw materials are used for producing recycled products like plastic bags, plastic bottles, platic lunch boxes etc.

This process show the full procedure of how a recycled product is made from the recycled plastic bottles.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You cover the main stages from placing bottles in a recycling bin through collection, sorting, processing and making new products, and you correctly note that unsuitable bottles are rejected. However, the overview is limited: the final sentence calls this a “full procedure” but does not clearly identify the process as a cycle, including the return from end products to the recycling bin. Some details are also imprecise or missing. For example, the diagram shows sorting, compressing, crushing, washing, pellet production and heating, but the account does not explain that the pellets are heated to create raw material before it is used to make products. The examples of products are relevant, though not all match the diagram. A clearer overview and more precise coverage of the later stages would strengthen the response.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The stages are presented in a generally understandable order, and paragraph breaks separate the initial collection, processing and final products. Sequencing expressions such as “Firstly,” “Once,” and “Then” help the reader follow the process. However, cohesion is sometimes mechanical because “Then” and “Now” repeatedly introduce stages, and the final paragraph repeats the idea of the process being complete rather than linking back to the cycle shown in the diagram. Some references are also unclear: “the block” and “those raw materials” require the reader to infer exactly which material is meant. Use a wider range of precise links, and make the progression from pellets to raw material and then to products explicit. An overview paragraph would also make the organisation more effective.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use relevant process vocabulary, including “sorting,” “compressed,” “crushing,” “washed,” “pellets” and “raw material,” so the reader can understand the general subject. However, the range is limited and several word-choice, collocation and spelling problems reduce precision. “Recycled marked trash trolley” is an unclear description of the recycling bin, while “grabge truck” and “platics” contain spelling errors. Phrases such as “the block further gone to the crushing process” and “particles are producing in plastic pellets” are not natural ways to describe the stages. Aim for accurate process collocations such as “is transported,” “is crushed into pieces” and “is converted into pellets.” Check spelling carefully and avoid repeating “plastic” where a more precise noun is available.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response uses some simple sequencing clauses, such as “Once it is full,” and attempts longer sentences to connect stages. However, grammatical control is inconsistent, and errors in verb forms, agreement and sentence construction sometimes make the process difficult to follow. For example, “better plastic bottles gone for the futher process” lacks a correctly formed verb, and “the washed particles are producing in plastic pellets” uses an incorrect passive construction. “This process show” also has a subject–verb agreement error. Articles and plural forms are not always controlled, as in “compressed into the blocks.” Practise consistent present-simple passive forms for process descriptions—for example, “the bottles are sorted,” “the plastic is washed,” and “pellets are heated”—and proofread each sentence for a complete, correctly formed clause.

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