Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · IELTS General Essentials · 2026-08-08

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

In many countries, people do not recycle their rubbish as much as they could.

Why do you think this is?

What can be done to change this?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

Student answer (Band 6.5)

In recent years, individuals in many nations do not recycle their waste as much as they could. This is mainly due to the lack of knowledge about the same among people which can be easily resolved by authorities by implementing mandatory classes about waste management in schools.

The main culprit is the limited or unclear knowledge about rubbish recycling. To expound, people are not aware of the proper garbage ethics. They have no knowledge about the green, blue and black garbage bins. They tend to discard everything in one garbage bin, they do not know what wet waste is or in which bin they should put the plastic bottles in, due to this it becomes extremely difficult for the waste centres to recycle the waste efficiently. To cite an example, in the recent studies done in India, even after putting three different kinds of bins on the street, people tend to throw their garbage in one bin.

Government should introduce mandatory classes in primary schools to teach basic garbage ethics to children so they know from the begining how to manage waste. For instance, Japan does not have garbage bins on the street because they teach their children in schools about waste management.

Furthermore, government should also allocate proper funding toward building more waste or garbage centres so the process of rubbish management can be done in the proper manner.

In conclusion, having lack of knowledge about garbage recyling is the main reason behind this, while this can be easily overcome by authorities by teaching children about waste in primary schools.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The response addresses both parts of the prompt: reasons for low recycling rates and potential solutions. The ideas are relevant, such as the lack of public knowledge and the need for educational initiatives. However, the development is somewhat limited. For instance, the suggestion to build more waste centres is mentioned but not fully explained in terms of how it directly changes public behaviour. The response would benefit from more depth in the analysis of why people fail to recycle beyond just 'lack of knowledge,' such as convenience or lack of infrastructure. Overall, the position is clear, and the response covers all requirements of the task.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The essay is logically organised with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the problem from the solutions. Cohesive devices such as 'To expound,' 'To cite an example,' and 'Furthermore' are used to guide the reader. However, some transitions feel slightly mechanical, and the referencing within sentences could be smoother. For example, the sentence 'due to this it becomes extremely difficult' is a comma splice, which affects the flow. Despite these minor issues, the progression of ideas is clear throughout the text.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, allowing the writer to express their ideas clearly. There is an attempt to use topic-specific vocabulary such as 'waste management,' 'garbage ethics,' and 'allocate proper funding.' However, the range is somewhat limited, and there are instances of repetition (e.g., 'garbage' and 'waste' are used frequently). Some word choices are slightly unnatural, such as 'garbage ethics' or 'the same among people.' To reach a higher band, the student should aim for more precise collocations and a wider variety of synonyms to avoid repetitive phrasing.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The student uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is generally clear, there are several grammatical errors. For example, 'having lack of knowledge' should be 'a lack of knowledge,' and 'from the begining' contains a spelling error. There are also punctuation issues, such as comma splices (e.g., '...in one garbage bin, they do not know...'). While these errors do not impede communication, they occur frequently enough to prevent a higher score. Increasing the variety of complex structures and proofreading for basic subject-verb agreement would improve the score.

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

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