Band 4.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 4.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-10-11
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 4.5)
The diagram show the process for recycling plastic bottles. And summarise the information by selecting the main points and the comparisons. There are different parts the recycling.
First of all the people purchese the water bottle and the drink and than the bottles push on the destbin and the second step the truck and push the recycling center and the labours clean the bottles and than the compressing in the blocks and the crushing and washing the chemicals waters and the next steps the bottles producing plastic pellets and the heating pellets to forms raw material.
Secondly the raw material is ready and than the different product For Examples the raw material use the reduce bottels and the material the shopping bags the use for malls. And the material use for plastic boxs and than the use for new shirts and than use for again plastic and than reduce different product.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 4.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 4.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 4.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 4.5 |
| Overall | 4.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.5
You identify the general subject and include several genuine stages, such as collection, sorting, compressing, crushing, washing, pellet production and heating. You also mention that the material becomes products such as bottles, bags and containers. However, the account is only a partial description: there is no clear overview of the complete cycle, and some details are inaccurate or unclear. For example, the diagram shows bottles being put in a recycling bin, not people purchasing drinks as a process stage; it does not specify chemical water. The sorting decision and the arrows returning from end products to the start are also omitted. To make the report more complete, summarise the loop first, then describe the stages in order and report only details shown in the diagram.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.5
There is a basic attempt to organise the response into paragraphs and to signal sequence with “First of all” and “Secondly”. The stages are broadly presented in process order, which gives the reader some sense of progression. However, the organisation is difficult to follow because many steps are joined into long strings with repeated “and than”, while the second paragraph shifts between raw material and examples without clearly explaining their relationship. The opening also repeats the task instruction rather than introducing the process. Use a clear overview followed by two stages-based paragraphs, and connect each step with precise sequencing language such as “After sorting” and “Once the pellets are heated”. This would make the progression easier to track.
Lexical Resource: Band 4.5
Your vocabulary includes several relevant process terms, including “recycling center”, “compressing”, “crushing”, “washing”, “plastic pellets” and “raw material”. These show an attempt to describe the diagram rather than relying entirely on general language. However, the range is basic and repetitive, and frequent spelling and word-choice problems make some descriptions hard to understand. Phrases such as “push on the destbin”, “chemicals waters” and “reduce bottels” do not communicate the intended process clearly; “reduce” appears to be used where “recycled” or “made into” is needed. Build a small bank of accurate process vocabulary and check spelling and collocations. For example, describe bottles as being “placed in a recycling bin” and products as being “manufactured from the raw material”.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.5
The response attempts to describe a sequence and uses some basic linking structures, but sentence forms are very limited and errors occur throughout, sometimes obscuring the meaning. Examples include “The diagram show”, where the subject and verb do not agree, and “the heating pellets to forms raw material”, where the verb form and sentence structure are faulty. Articles and plurals are also often missing or inconsistent, as in “the different product” and “new shirts”. Many ideas are joined with “and” rather than being formed into clear sentences, and punctuation does not reliably mark sentence boundaries. Practise accurate simple present passive forms for processes, such as “The bottles are sorted” and “The pellets are heated”, before adding longer sentences with clear clauses.
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