Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-10-22

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 diagram shows information about recycling process of plastic.

Overall, it can be seen that this process contain several steps. Major steps are use the plastic, compress it into blocks, crush it into fine powder, again products.

To begin with, plastic is significant in material in today's life. We can recycle it many times. The process of recycling has few steps. First collect the used plastic into bins. Then this collected plastic go to recycling center and separate their kinds.

Compress this material into block and after this crush compressed plastic. Wash crushed product. Passed these plastic pieces from a plastic pellets and convert it into fine powder. Then heated this fine powder and convert it into thick liquid. After this Raw material made and give shape this liquid whatever thing we want to make

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You identify the diagram as a recycling process and report several central stages, including collection, sorting, compressing, crushing, washing and making raw material. However, the account only partially covers the process: it does not clearly describe the final production of end products or the arrows showing that these products can re-enter the cycle. Some details are also inaccurate or unsupported: the diagram shows plastic pellets being produced and then heated to form raw material, not pellets being converted into fine powder or the material becoming a thick liquid. The overview is vague, and the response is 15 words below the required minimum. Add a precise overview and describe the complete cycle using only stages shown in the diagram.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a basic sequence, moving from collection through processing to raw material, and paragraph breaks distinguish an overview from the process description. Sequencing phrases such as “First,” “Then,” and “After this” help the reader follow the stages. However, progression becomes difficult to track in the final paragraph because several steps are compressed into short, loosely connected statements, and the ending does not clearly complete the cycle. The introductory comments about plastic’s importance and recyclability interrupt the process description rather than helping organise it. Use one paragraph for a concise overview and another for the stages, linking each step clearly and ending with the production of new items and the return to collection.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use some relevant process vocabulary, including “recycling center,” “compress,” “crush,” “wash,” and “raw material,” so the topic is generally understandable. However, the range is limited and several choices are imprecise or awkward for describing this diagram. “Fine powder” and “thick liquid” do not accurately name the stages shown, while “again products” is unclear. Phrases such as “significant in material” and “give shape this liquid” also show difficulty with natural collocation. Aim for precise process terms and standard combinations, such as “plastic pellets,” “heat the pellets,” and “manufacture new products.” This would make the description clearer without requiring unnecessarily advanced vocabulary.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response mainly uses simple sentences and some sequencing clauses, but the range is limited and errors occur frequently. For example, “this process contain” has subject–verb disagreement, and “this collected plastic go” also needs a correctly inflected verb. The sentence “Passed these plastic pieces from a plastic pellets” is incomplete and difficult to interpret, while “Then heated this fine powder” lacks a clear subject. Articles, plurals and sentence construction are also inconsistent, as in “Compress this material into block.” These errors sometimes make the process hard to follow. Practise forming complete sentences with a clear subject and verb, and check agreement and articles; for example, “The bottles are compressed into blocks and then crushed.”

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