Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-11-03

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)

The given picture illustrates the process of plastic material recycling.

Overall, the given diagram shows the plastic bottles recycling after throun the bottle in basket.The process are depend on 9 steps.

The first buy a any thing like a bottle plastic bottle after use throw the bottle in basket and resycling team empty the basket and go on recycling center and in recycling team seprate the all material of recycling and after seprate the material compressing into blocks and crushing and washing the crushing material.

After crushing and washing matrial go on producing plastic pelites this mechine make material very small like a sand after this heating pellets to from raw material and raw material pake after paking the material ready for making plastic things of using raw material in factories make a clouths, plastic bottles, bags, and other materials.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response5.0
Coherence and Cohesion5.5
Lexical Resource5.0
Grammatical Range and Accuracy4.5
Overall5.0

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You identify the subject as plastic-bottle recycling and describe several central stages, including collection, sorting, compressing, crushing, washing, pellet production and heating. The final products are also mentioned, so the response is relevant to the diagram. However, the overview is unclear: “The process are depend on 9 steps” does not explain the main feature that this is a closed loop, with end products returning to the start. Some details are inaccurate or vague, such as saying the team “empty the basket” and that “all material” is sorted, rather than explaining that suitable bottles are selected. The response also contains 140 words, below the required 150. To develop the report, state the cycle clearly and describe the stages more precisely.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a basic structure: an introduction, a brief overview and a longer paragraph following the process. The stages are generally presented in the correct order, and phrases such as “after this” help signal sequence. However, the overview and body are not clearly separated in their purpose, and the long final paragraph strings many stages together with repeated “and” and “after.” This makes the progression difficult to follow, particularly from washing through to the production of new goods. Some references are also unclear, as in “after crushing and washing matrial go on producing plastic pelites.” Use separate paragraphs for the overview and process details, and connect each stage with precise sequencing language and clear references.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use several relevant process terms, including “compressing into blocks,” “crushing,” “washing,” “raw material” and “factories,” which help communicate the topic. However, the range is limited and many words are repeated, especially “material” and “after.” Frequent spelling errors—such as “resycling,” “seprate,” “pelites” and “clouths”—make the description less clear and reduce precision. Some expressions are also unsuitable or imprecise for this diagram: “empty the basket” does not clearly describe collection, while “make material very small like a sand” is an informal explanation of pellet production. Build a bank of accurate process vocabulary and check spelling and collocations before finishing.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.5

The response attempts to describe a sequence using longer sentences and time clauses, for example, “after this heating pellets to from raw material.” However, sentence structures are limited, and attempts to link several stages often produce incomplete or faulty clauses. Errors in verb forms and agreement are frequent: “The process are depend” and “team empty” do not form accurate sentences. Articles and sentence boundaries are also problematic, as in “The first buy a any thing like a bottle plastic bottle after use throw the bottle in basket.” These errors sometimes make the process difficult to understand. Practise writing one complete sentence per stage, using consistent present simple passive forms, such as “The bottles are sorted and then compressed.”

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