Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-10-24

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 5.0)

Plastic recycling has been one of the most discussed topics in our communities. It is an essential act that has helped in the safety of our environment. The diagram below illustrates the process of recycling plastice bottles in our community. As expected in every community, the fist stage of recycling any material, always, starts with dumping the material in a waste or dustbin. This stage would have establised the fact the plastic is now a waste product. The second stage involves the collection of the waste by a waste service truck. This truck would generally not collect any other item except waste. After the waste collection, the actual recycling kicks off at the recycling centre where sorting and compression take place. The waste centre undoubtably does the hard job as compared to the other stages. In the sorting centre, the plastics are seperated to detect the ones that are no longer recyclable. After all these processes, the products through the same chain over and over until it could possibly be discarded in the sorting centre.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.5

The response identifies the opening stages—placing bottles in a bin, collection by truck, and sorting at a recycling centre—and recognises that recycling can form a repeated cycle. However, it omits most of the diagram’s central and later stages: compressing, crushing, washing, pellet production, heating pellets into raw material, and making new products. The claim that the centre handles “sorting and compression” is only partly accurate, and the description of rejected plastics being “no longer recyclable” is not clearly supported by the diagram. The ending is also inaccurate: the loop returns to bottle disposal through new products, rather than simply continuing until the material is discarded. A fuller, factual account of the complete sequence and a clear overview of the cycle are needed.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a generally understandable sequence, moving from disposal to collection and then sorting, and phrases such as “The second stage” and “After the waste collection” help signal progression. However, the account stops before explaining most of the process, so the overall progression is incomplete. Several sentences add general commentary—such as “This truck would generally not collect any other item except waste”—rather than advancing the diagram description. The final sentence, “After all these processes,” is unclear because the preceding account has not described the full process, and “the products” has no precise reference. Organise the response around the full sequence, using clear stage-to-stage links and a separate overview of the cycle.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The response uses some relevant process vocabulary, including “collection,” “sorting,” “compression,” and “recycling centre,” and attempts more formal wording such as “essential” and “recyclable.” However, the range is limited for describing the many stages, and several choices are inaccurate or awkward: “dumping” suggests careless disposal rather than placing bottles in a recycling bin, while “waste centre” is not the label shown. There are also noticeable spelling errors, including “plastice,” “fist,” “establised,” “undoubtably,” and “seperated.” Phrases such as “the hard job” and “same chain over and over” are imprecise for a process report. Use specific terms from the diagram, such as “compress,” “crush,” “wash,” and “form pellets,” and check spelling carefully.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The response includes a mix of simple and more extended sentence forms, and most of the main ideas remain understandable. Some sentence structures and punctuation are controlled, for example, “The second stage involves the collection of the waste by a waste service truck.” However, there are errors in sentence construction and agreement that reduce precision. In “The first stage of recycling any material, always, starts,” the adverb placement and commas interrupt the sentence; “This stage would have established the fact the plastic is now a waste product” needs a clearer clause structure, such as “shows that the bottles are being discarded.” The final sentence shifts awkwardly from “products” to “it,” making the reference unclear. Aim for direct present-tense descriptions and check that pronouns clearly refer to the correct noun.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.