Band 4.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.0 · 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 4.0)

The diagram illustrates the process for recyling plastic bottles.summarise the information selecting and reportin the main features will govermment saftey.

overall, The information selecting the my opinion recycling truks and garabeg trucks should come in waste. nine products in digram shows.

first,recycling garbage waste in dastbin, because cleain in the road and garden. why very nice beatiful road and garden to sit some people. second,truks in garbage ,then center per waste in sorting. and dry waste and wet waste separeat truks because mission in filates waste. fourt, comperssing into blocks then crushing and washing products.

six, producing palstic pellets mix to mission heating pellets to from raw material to same products plastic bottles use and teffin box, pen , pencil and all stesnary aitem and champal and bag all same chiz.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response4.0
Coherence and Cohesion4.0
Lexical Resource4.5
Grammatical Range and Accuracy4.0
Overall4.0

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.0

You identify the general subject and mention several genuine stages, including sorting, compressing, crushing, washing, pellet production and heating. However, the response only minimally summarises the diagram: the overview is unclear, and much of the writing shifts to opinions about clean roads and gardens, which are not shown. Some details are inaccurate or unsupported, such as separating wet and dry waste and describing the process as making “the same products.” The diagram shows bottles being sorted for recycling, processed into raw material, and used to produce a range of new items; it also shows the cycle returning to bottle disposal. The response is 19 words below the required minimum, leaving important stages and the overall cycle insufficiently explained. Focus on the diagram and cover its main sequence accurately.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.0

There is an attempt to divide the response into an opening, an overview and further description, and sequence markers such as “first,” “second” and “then” show an effort to order events. However, the ideas are not arranged coherently enough for the reader to follow the process. The overview sentence, “nine products in digram shows,” does not clearly state what the diagram shows, while the discussion of roads and gardens interrupts the process description. Later, several stages and examples are crowded into one paragraph without clear links. Organise the response into a brief introduction and overview, followed by the stages in order. Use simple, accurate links such as “After sorting,” “Next,” and “Finally,” and keep each sentence focused on one part of the process.

Lexical Resource: Band 4.5

The response includes some relevant process vocabulary, including “sorting,” “compressing,” “crushing,” “washing,” “plastic pellets” and “raw material.” These terms show awareness of the diagram’s subject. However, the vocabulary is basic and often inaccurate or difficult to understand, with frequent spelling errors such as “recyling,” “garabeg,” “palstic” and “separeat.” Some expressions are not suitable for describing this process, including “truks in garbage” and “same chiz,” and “mission” appears to be an unclear attempt at “machine.” These choices strain communication and make several details hard to interpret. Build a small bank of accurate process phrases, such as “is transported to,” “is sorted,” and “is converted into,” and check spelling before submitting.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.0

There are a few attempts to express a sequence, but most sentences are fragments or have unclear grammatical relationships. For example, “then center per waste in sorting” lacks a clear subject and verb, and “six, producing plastic pellets mix to mission heating pellets” does not form a complete sentence. The opening also runs two instructions together, while capitalisation and punctuation are inconsistent, as in “overall, The information.” Sentence structures are very limited, and frequent errors make the intended meaning difficult to recover. Practise writing complete sentences with a clear subject and verb, for example: “The bottles are taken to a recycling centre, where they are sorted.” Then connect stages with accurate time clauses and check sentence boundaries and capital letters.

See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.

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