Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-10-14

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)

This picture diagram gives us information that how plastic bottles recycling took place.Overall, this procedure consist of nine steps. which can be sorted three main phases:collecting and sorting ,mechanical processing and the final transformation into raw materials for manufacturing.

Starting from collecting bottles from recycling bins to making new different ending products.

First of all ,collecting recycling metarial at recycling center where all things are copressed by putting pressure to them and developing manageable blocks, after that crushing is the main procedure where all type of recycling materials are crushed into small fragments and wash them of to remove all the dirt.

Second most step is making raw plastic which is carried out by the help of heat. In which plastic pellets are coverted in to raw material so we can reshape them in a new product. These material now read to make different things like plastic containers ,recycling bags , bottles and much more.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You identify the process as a nine-step cycle and give a relevant overview of collecting and sorting, mechanical processing, and making material for new products. You also describe several accurate stages, including compressing, crushing, washing, pellet production, and heating pellets into raw material. However, some important details are omitted or unclear: the bottles are first placed in a recycling bin and collected by truck, and sorting separates acceptable bottles from rejected items. The final products are also more varied than the examples you give. The phrase “starting from collecting bottles … to making new different ending products” signals the overall sequence but does not explain it clearly. To strengthen the response, report the stages in order and make the return arrow from end products to the start of the cycle explicit.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable overall structure: an introduction and overview are followed by two paragraphs describing later parts of the process. Sequencing expressions such as “First of all,” “after that,” and “Second” help the reader follow the general progression. However, the organisation is not consistently clear because the first paragraph jumps from collection to compression without explaining the bin, truck, or sorting stages. “Starting from…” is a fragment rather than a clear transition, and “Second most step” does not accurately signal the next stage. Some links between sentences are also awkward, particularly the move from heating pellets to the list of products. Group the stages into clear chronological paragraphs and use transitions that show each step’s relationship to the next.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use some relevant process vocabulary, including “recycling bins,” “manageable blocks,” “small fragments,” “plastic pellets,” and “raw material.” This gives you a useful foundation for describing a diagram. However, spelling and word-choice errors are noticeable and sometimes make the description less precise: “metarial,” “copressed,” and “coverted” are misspelled, while “all things” and “all type of recycling materials” are vague. “Ending products” is not a natural collocation in this context, and “wash them of” is imprecise. Aim for accurate, specific terms for the materials and stages, and check spelling carefully. A wider set of process verbs, such as “sort,” “compress,” “shred,” and “manufacture,” would help you describe the diagram more precisely.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, including a relative clause in “where all things are…” and a purpose clause in “so we can reshape them.” However, several sentences are incomplete or have faulty structures. “Overall, this procedure consist of nine steps. which can be sorted…” incorrectly separates the relative clause, and “In which plastic pellets are…” is a fragment. There are also errors in agreement and verb forms, as in “procedure consist,” “all type … are crushed,” and “These material now read.” Punctuation and spacing around sentence boundaries are inconsistent. Practise forming complete sentences with a clear subject and verb, and check agreement and tense. More accurate control of these patterns would make your process description easier to follow.

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