Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-10-29

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 6.0)

The diagram demonstrates the procedure of recycling plastic bottles.

Overall, the process consists of nine stages. Begins with storing used plastic bottles in bin and ending with the production of different products from raw material which is produced by this whole process.

Initially, used plastic bottles storing in wastage bins. Then these bottles are delivared by trucks to recycling centre. The next stage is sorting them manually and removing non-recyclable comtaminants. After this recyclable items compresses into blocks. The upcomeing stage is crushing and in this stage the compressed material is being crushed. Than washing the crashed items to removing all the remaining impurities.

In the next stage, the plastic pellets are produced. Subsequently, these pellets are heated to form the raw material and the raw material is produced. In the final stage, this raw material is used to produce different items such as reusable bags, pencils, clothes, plastic boxes and bottles.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

You cover the main stages in the correct order, from depositing bottles and collection through sorting, compression, crushing, washing, pellet production and heating, to making new products. The overview identifies the nine-stage process and its beginning and end, while examples such as bags, pencils, clothes, boxes and bottles reflect the diagram. This gives a relevant account of the task. Some details are less fully or precisely reported: the sorting stage is described as removing “non-recyclable contaminants,” whereas the diagram shows recyclable and rejected items being separated, and the closed-loop return from end products to the recycling bin is not mentioned. Including that circular feature and clarifying the sorting would make the summary more complete and precise.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response is arranged in a clear sequence, with an introduction, an overview and two paragraphs tracing the process from collection to new products. Time markers such as “Initially,” “Then,” “After this,” and “In the final stage” help the reader follow the stages. This is a coherent overall arrangement. However, some linking is mechanical, and the overview’s sentence beginning “Begins with” is not smoothly connected to the preceding sentence. The transition “In the next stage” is also rather general after the washing description. Use clearer sentence links and references—for example, “The washed plastic is then made into pellets”—and mention the return arrow to make the progression through the loop explicit.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant process vocabulary, including “sorting,” “compresses into blocks,” “crushing,” “pellets,” and “raw material,” and the range is sufficient to communicate the main stages. There are also attempts at more specific wording, such as “non-recyclable contaminants” and “remaining impurities.” However, noticeable spelling and word-choice errors reduce precision: “delivared,” “comtaminants,” “upcomeing,” and “crashed” are inaccurate, while “storing” and “wastage bins” are not natural choices for this process. “Reusable bags” also adds a detail not established by the diagram. Check spelling carefully and prefer precise process collocations, such as “placed in recycling bins,” “collected by truck,” and “crushed plastic.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex forms, including the overview and the sequence of actions, and the reader can generally understand the process. However, errors occur in basic sentence construction and verb forms, which limits accuracy. “Begins with storing used plastic bottles in bin” is a sentence fragment and lacks an article; “these bottles storing” should use a passive form such as “these bottles are collected”; and “recyclable items compresses” has incorrect passive construction and agreement. The phrase “Than washing the crashed items to removing” is also not a complete, correctly formed sentence. Practise using consistent passive structures for process descriptions, such as “the bottles are sorted,” “the plastic is crushed,” and “the material is washed,” while checking articles and sentence boundaries.

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