Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS General Essentials · 2026-09-03

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 5.5)

The significant number of nations include individuals who do not dispose their household or another wastage in the suitable manner. This might be happened due to inadequate usage of natural resources as well as the ignorance does by Government.

To alter this, rules and regulations should be imposed and implemented by national authorities and Government to create hygienic cooperation between human and their ecosystem.

To commence with the statement, enormous number of reasons are there to justify the lack of awareness hold by the public. The major one is human selfishness. Wide range of people are using resources in the inadequate way such as plastic is used by the people mostly and it is non- biodigredable. Thus, they are disposing them as the garbage in disposable bins instead of recycling them. For instance, Paper bags are still used instead of cloth bags for shopping purposes in various states of India. Furthermore, they are creating problem in the ecosystem balance by soil erosion, air pollution and other.

In many parts of India such as Chennai, many recyclable machines are promoted to villages for recycling plastic bottles and in reward you would get the 1 rupees coin per bottle. Still there is the lack of proper guidance provided by State Government in other states of India. If there would be proper schemes and facilities provided by municipal corporations, the society would be much aware about the effects of waste disposal. Counselling sessions should be organised in the cities as well as villages to make aware of the rubbish things such as used condoms, needles so that the children who are unaware of the side effects should be prohibited to use them as the part of their playing activities.

In Conclusion, it is the priority of the Government to ensure that the humans are disposing their kitchen, chemical and another type of waste in the good manner, if it is decomposed and if not, they should recycle it through recyclable machines provided by national authorities and reuse them for sustainable development.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses both parts of the prompt: reasons for low recycling rates and potential solutions. However, the development of ideas is inconsistent. While the mention of 'human selfishness' and 'lack of guidance' is relevant, the explanation is sometimes superficial or confusing, such as the sudden, jarring inclusion of specific hazardous waste examples like 'used condoms' and 'needles' in the third paragraph, which distracts from the broader topic of recycling. The position is generally clear, but the argument lacks the depth required for a higher band, as some points are under-developed or rely on anecdotal evidence that does not fully support the main thesis.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organised into paragraphs, but the flow between and within them is often mechanical or disjointed. While some cohesive devices are used (e.g., 'To commence with', 'Furthermore', 'In Conclusion'), they are sometimes used incorrectly or awkwardly, such as 'To commence with the statement'. The referencing is occasionally unclear, and the logical progression of ideas is hindered by abrupt shifts in topic, particularly in the third paragraph. Paragraphing is present, but the internal structure of the paragraphs lacks the necessary cohesion to guide the reader smoothly through the argument.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The range of vocabulary is limited and often repetitive. There are frequent errors in word choice and collocation, such as 'wastage' instead of 'waste', 'inadequate usage' instead of 'inefficient use', and 'rubbish things'. The phrase 'hygienic cooperation' is an unnatural collocation. While the student attempts to use some topic-specific vocabulary like 'sustainable development' and 'biodegradable', the overall control is weak, and the misuse of words occasionally makes the intended meaning difficult to follow. The vocabulary is generally sufficient for basic communication but lacks the precision and flexibility required for higher bands.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The essay contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors throughout. Common issues include incorrect verb forms ('This might be happened'), subject-verb agreement errors ('The significant number of nations include'), and awkward phrasing ('the ignorance does by Government'). Punctuation is also inconsistent, and there are several instances of missing articles or incorrect preposition usage. While the meaning is usually clear, the high frequency of errors in basic grammar and sentence construction prevents the text from reaching a higher band score.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.