Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · IELTS General Essentials · 2026-08-27

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 6.0)

Around the globe, there are few nations whose people do not opt in for recycling. Because of which there are several impacts on environment. This essay will discuss the reasons behind it and what steps can be taken to improve.

To begin with, there isn't much awareness related to this. Citizens are unaware about the recycling process, hence they're not able to work on it. For Instance, people throwing their waste all in single bin instead of separating it in wet waste or paper garbage. This is the most common thing which people haven't encountered yet. Also, in few areas residents lack basic civic sense and throw their house waste on road- they didn't even care to put it in dustbin. Therefore, literacy plays a vital role in recycling.

To change this behaviour, it's highly recommended that government should take an initiative in this matter. To exemplify, government bodies should implement certain recycling campaign in local areas to spread awareness through rallies, newspaper or commercial advertisements. In this way, they'll be able to reach to public in a productive way and can clearly state their message. Moreover, garbage with different waste should be updated at every public place. Such as, signage's of Wet waste or paper waste.

To recapitulate, lack of civic sense among people is notable in many countries whose literacy rate is very low and because of which they remain unaware about the causes of not doing recycling. Intervention from government into this issue can turn out to be a game changer and implementing certain policies related to this can be cherry on top.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response addresses both parts of the prompt: reasons for low recycling rates and potential solutions. However, the development is somewhat limited. The ideas regarding 'lack of awareness' and 'government intervention' are relevant but remain at a surface level. For example, the explanation of why people do not recycle is somewhat repetitive, focusing heavily on 'civic sense' and 'literacy' without exploring other factors like infrastructure or economic incentives. To reach a higher band, you should provide more nuanced arguments and ensure that the solutions proposed directly address the specific problems mentioned in the first body paragraph.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is logically organized into clear paragraphs, and there is a progression of ideas from the problem to the solution. You use some cohesive devices, such as 'To begin with', 'For instance', and 'To recapitulate', which help guide the reader. However, some transitions are slightly mechanical or awkward, such as 'Because of which there are several impacts on environment'. Additionally, the referencing is occasionally unclear, and the flow between sentences could be smoother to avoid a repetitive structure. Overall, the paragraphing is appropriate, but the use of cohesive devices needs more variety and precision.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, allowing you to convey your meaning clearly. You use some topic-specific terms like 'recycling process', 'commercial advertisements', and 'literacy rate'. However, there are instances of imprecise word choice and collocation errors, such as 'opt in for recycling' (should be 'opt for' or 'engage in'), 'house waste' (should be 'household waste'), and 'signage's' (incorrect pluralization). The range is sufficient for the task, but you need to work on more sophisticated collocations and avoid basic errors to reach a higher band.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

You demonstrate a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is generally clear, there are frequent grammatical errors, particularly with articles ('on environment' should be 'on the environment'), verb tenses ('they didn't even care' should be 'they do not even care'), and sentence fragments ('Because of which...'). Punctuation is also inconsistent, such as the unnecessary apostrophe in 'signage's'. While these errors do not impede communication, they occur frequently enough to prevent a higher score. Focusing on subject-verb agreement and article usage will significantly improve your accuracy.

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

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