Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · IELTS General Essentials · 2026-08-23

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 5.0)

In many nations, individuals do not put extra effort in recycling their garbage .This thing is not safe for environment. There are many reasons for this issue .Here I will discuss both why this is happening and how this should be prevented in upcoming paragraphs.

Firstly, many people put their rubbish on the street as they do not have knowledge for this.To explain this ,they do not know how this is dangerous for society as a result they do not care about recycling. For example many people do not know which item should put in which bin. Secondly ,some people are very careless and lazy they put everything in one bin. To express this, they are quite lazy ,they do not care about environment they mix everything. Other than this sometime recycling is in convenient .To explain this, some people do not have seperate bins for different rubbish.

The first preventive method for this is to educate people about using different kinds of bins for different. For instance ,Schools and government should educate people about recycling items like cans ,paper and boxes.As a result they have the idea if they do not recycle how dangerous this should be for society. Moreover, government and communities should impose heavy fine and punish for putting garbage on the roads as a result they become afrra

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response5.0
Coherence and Cohesion5.5
Lexical Resource5.0
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.0
Overall5.0

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The response addresses both parts of the prompt, identifying reasons for low recycling rates and suggesting solutions. However, the development of ideas is limited and repetitive. The essay is significantly under the 250-word minimum, which prevents a full, detailed exploration of the topic. The arguments regarding 'laziness' and 'lack of knowledge' are stated but not deeply analysed. Furthermore, the conclusion is missing, and the final sentence is incomplete, which negatively impacts the overall task completion. To improve, you must expand your points with more specific examples and ensure you meet the word count requirement to allow for a comprehensive discussion.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay uses basic cohesive devices such as 'Firstly', 'Secondly', and 'Moreover' to signal the progression of ideas. However, the paragraphing is somewhat disjointed, and the flow between sentences is often mechanical. The use of referencing is occasionally unclear, such as in the phrase 'This thing is not safe', where the antecedent is vague. While there is an attempt at logical organisation, the lack of a concluding paragraph and the abrupt ending of the final sentence disrupt the overall coherence of the piece. Improving the variety of linking words and ensuring a clear structure with an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion would enhance the score.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary is limited and repetitive, relying on simple terms like 'rubbish', 'lazy', and 'dangerous'. There are several instances of awkward phrasing and incorrect word choices, such as 'recycling is in convenient' (inconvenient) and 'afrra' (incomplete word). The range of vocabulary is insufficient to express complex ideas with precision. To achieve a higher band, you should focus on learning topic-specific collocations related to environmental issues and waste management, and work on using more sophisticated synonyms to avoid repeating basic words throughout the text.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The essay relies heavily on simple sentence structures. While there are some attempts at complex sentences, they are often marred by grammatical errors, such as 'they do not have knowledge for this' and 'if they do not recycle how dangerous this should be for society'. Punctuation is inconsistent, with missing spaces after periods and commas. The final sentence is incomplete, which is a significant error. To improve, you need to focus on subject-verb agreement, correct preposition usage, and the accurate construction of complex sentences. Proofreading for basic punctuation and spelling errors is also essential.

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

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