Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS General Essentials · 2026-09-14

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)

It is undeniable that the lack of rubbish recycling by people has become an increasingly pressing issue in many parts of the world. This essay will examine the main problems associated with poor recycling practices, and propose some practical measures that could be taken to address them.

There are several significant problems arising from inadequate recycling management.The most serious concern is that lack of awareness among the society. This is largely because they do not have appropriate knowlegde about how to recycle their domestic waste,which can lead to monetry waste.For instance,people purchase the expensive garden fertilizers, where they can use their kitchen waste instead, which is not only oragnic but effective as well.Hence, resulting in money waste.

Nevertheless, there are number of effective measures that could be implemented to tackle these problems. One particularly effective solution would be that Government should take strict actions.This could be achieved by imposing taxes on the amount of household waste that is not recylced, and as a result, in order to avoid those heavy taxes, people will automatically take initiative to recycle their rubbish.If these measures were implemented effectively, they would significantly improve the disposal of waste.

In conclusion,the growing amount of non-recyclable waste gives rise to several serious problems, particularly waste of money. However, these issues can be mitigated through awareness campaigns, A coordinated approach from authorities would therefore be essential to bring about a long-term improvement in this area.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses both parts of the prompt, exploring reasons why people do not recycle and suggesting measures to change this. However, the introduction misinterprets the prompt's focus on 'reasons' and 'solutions' by stating it will examine 'problems associated with poor recycling practices,' which slightly skews the focus of the first body paragraph. Furthermore, the length requirement of 250 words is not met, as the response contains only 237 words. Ideas are relevant, such as lack of awareness and government taxation, but they are somewhat limited and lack full extension. For instance, the example regarding garden fertilizers is a bit underdeveloped. Consequently, these shortcomings place the response at Band 5.5.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is divided into four standard paragraphs with a recognisable overarching structure, featuring an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Logical progression is attempted, but transitions between ideas can be abrupt or mechanical, such as 'Hence, resulting in money waste.' Cohesive devices are sometimes used inaccurately or repetitively, for example, using 'waste of money' repeatedly. Paragraphing is present and generally appropriate in intent, though referencing is occasionally unclear (e.g., 'This is largely because they...'). Overall cohesion is adequate for a Band 6.0, as the general progression is clear despite minor faults in the mechanical linking of ideas.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, with attempts at less common items such as 'inadequate recycling management,' 'domestic waste,' and 'coordinated approach.' However, there are notable word choice and spelling errors, such as 'knowlegde,' 'monetry,' 'oragnic,' and 'recylced.' The phrase 'money waste' is unnatural and repeated, demonstrating issues with collocation. The lexical range is limited and minimally sufficient to convey the basic message, resulting in a score of 5.5 due to the noticeable spelling and precision errors.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, including conditional structures such as 'If these measures were implemented effectively...'. However, grammatical accuracy is inconsistent. There are punctuation errors (e.g., missing spaces after commas in 'waste,which' and 'conclusion,the'), article omissions ('lack of awareness among the society'), and awkward phrasings like 'One particularly effective solution would be that Government should take strict actions.' While these errors do not severely impede overall communication, they occur frequently enough to prevent the response from reaching Band 6.0.

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