Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-11-04

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 figure presents the process of plastic bottles recyling.

Overall, The whole process is of nine stages. Starting from putting the plastic bottles in recycling bin, trash trucks collecting these bottles. After sorting and compressing into blocks, bottles are crushed resulting in producing plastic pallets. Heating the pellets form the raw material which is then used to make the final products and the cycle continues.

Plastic bottles are put into the recycling bins. These bottles are then collected by the trash trucks. The bottles then brought to the recyling centre. These bottles are then selected and sorted into the right container for the bottles. The sorted bottles are compressed into large cube-shaped blocks.These blocks are crushed into small pieces by a grinder.

After crushing, The tiny particles are then washed into a liquid to remove any impurities in it.

After the washing is done, These particles are then dumped into a machine which converts these particles in plastic pellets. Plastic pellets are then go through a stage of heating. The heating process is done to produce the raw material for the products. This raw material is used to produce the final products: shopping bags, t-shirts and again plastic bottles. These plastic items are then recycled again after using and the cycle continues.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

You cover the main stages and give a clear overview of the nine-stage cycle, from placing bottles in bins through processing them into raw material and new products. The sequence of collection, sorting, compression, crushing, washing, pellet production and heating is generally accurate, and the examples of end products are relevant. This meets the task well, with some features more fully described than others: the sorting stage’s check/X distinction is reduced to bottles going into the “right container,” and the raw material’s form is not explained. The overview also says the cycle continues, but could make the return from end products to recycling more explicit. More precise coverage of these details would make the summary more complete and developed.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response is arranged in a sensible order, with an overview followed by a detailed account that follows the diagram from collection to reuse. Sequencing words such as “then,” “After crushing,” and “After the washing is done” help the reader follow the stages. However, repeated use of “These bottles are then” and “These particles are then” makes the linking somewhat mechanical, and the final paragraph contains many stages in succession. Some references, such as “it” in “remove any impurities in it,” are not fully clear. Grouping the stages into more balanced paragraphs and varying the links—for example, “Once sorted” or “Following this”—would improve flow and make connections less repetitive.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range of process vocabulary, including “compressed,” “cube-shaped blocks,” “particles,” “pellets,” and “raw material,” which helps convey the sequence. Some choices are imprecise or less natural for this diagram: “trash trucks” is less suitable than “collection trucks,” “dumped into a machine” sounds informal, and “plastic pallets” appears to be a spelling error for “plastic pellets.” “Liquid” is also less precise than “water” for the washing stage. These slips do not prevent understanding, but they limit precision and control. Aim for accurate process collocations and check spelling carefully, especially for key technical terms that recur in the description.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and more complex forms, including the overview sentence beginning “After sorting and compressing…” and the relative clause “which converts these particles into plastic pellets.” The sequence remains understandable, but some grammatical errors recur. For example, “The bottles then brought to the recycling centre” is missing “are,” while “Plastic pellets are then go through” combines incompatible verb forms. The opening overview also contains a sentence fragment: “Starting from putting…” Capitalisation after commas is inconsistent, as in “After crushing, The tiny particles…”. Use complete passive clauses consistently for process descriptions, and check auxiliary verbs and sentence boundaries. These corrections would make the range you attempt more accurate.

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