Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · 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 5.5)

This nine steps process demonstrates how plastic bottles gets recycled.

Overall, the recycling process has nine stages, the process starts by people throwing bottles on a special place, and it ends with producing end products, this process works on a cycle.

First step begins with people put the recycable plastic bottles on their specific place which then gets picked up by a truck and transported to a Recycling center, the last one is responsable of sorting bottles that can be recycled and which can't be, then they compress it into blocks, in the next step they crush it into smaller peices and clean it up.

After that they start producing plastic pellets by putting crushed plastic in a machine, those pellets get heated and formed into raw matirial then they send it to factories and reuse it to produce end product such as bottles, shirts, and anything that needs plastic to be produced.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You cover the main stages in the correct order, from putting bottles in a recycling bin through collection, sorting, compression, crushing, washing, pellet production and heating, to making new products. The overview also correctly identifies the process as a cycle. These relevant details meet the task well, but some stages are less fully reported: for example, you do not mention that unsuitable bottles are separated during sorting, or that the finished raw material is shown as blocks or sacks before it is used to make products. The final examples are partly accurate, but “anything that needs plastic” is too broad and the diagram specifically shows food containers, pencils and a carrier bag as well as bottles and a T-shirt. Include these details for a more complete summary.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear overall sequence and is divided into an introduction, an overview and two paragraphs describing the stages. Linking phrases such as “Overall,” “First step,” “then,” and “After that” help the reader follow the process. However, some connections are mechanical, and the long third sentence strings together several stages with commas, making the relationships between actions less clear. The reference in “the last one” is also unclear: it appears to mean the recycling centre, but the wording could briefly confuse the reader. Use shorter sentences to separate the sorting, compressing and crushing stages, and vary transitions while keeping the sequence explicit.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant process vocabulary, including “sorting,” “compress,” “crush,” “pellets,” and “raw material,” so the stages are generally understandable. However, the range is uneven and some choices are imprecise or informal. “A special place” and “their specific place” do not clearly name the recycling bin, while “anything that needs plastic to be produced” is vague. There are also spelling errors in “recycable,” “peices,” and “matirial,” and “end product” would be more natural as a plural here. Aim for precise terms from the diagram and check spelling; this would make the description more accurate and fluent.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and complex sentences, including a sequence joined with “which then” and a clause beginning “that can be recycled.” However, some errors in agreement, verb forms and sentence boundaries reduce accuracy. For example, “plastic bottles gets recycled” should use a plural verb, and “people put” needs a suitable form such as “people putting” after “begins with.” The overview joins independent clauses with commas, as does the long sentence beginning “First step,” creating run-on sentences. Articles and pronouns are also inconsistent in “they compress it” after referring to plural bottles. Use full stops or conjunctions to separate stages, and check subject–verb agreement and pronoun reference.

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