Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS General Essentials · 2026-09-18
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)
In area of the world, public do not recycle their garbage as much as they could. I believe it is because people do not want to do or they dont have knowledge.
On the one hand, they are not aware of the importance of recycling. Because Government does not spread any awareness among individuals or public . Another reason is now people have plenty of money. If anything is damaged or brokendown, they do not go to any shop for repairing. But they will replace it with new. Because now people do not value their money. Another major reason is they are materialsitic and wants to show off to others. They have so much money and they can afford it and someone does not. Therefore they bought new things for their home, for themselves.
There are so many ways in which we can change this. For instance such as Government and big companies should work together and spread awareness among public. Organise new dustbins. Each dustbin contains a different tag include. For example such as one consists of plastic, second include glass, third include garbage. In each area they must organise there containers so people should awared. If someone does not follow this rule . Government should fine them and take legal action against them. Furthermore In Japan there is a survey held in 2024 in which japan is a number one country because of recycling process and cleanliness. Because each citizen follows rule and regulations. If they dont't they penalty them or even go to prison.
In conclusion, nowadays in every city or continents people do not recycle their rubbish because they are not aware of the importance. I believe if we work together and tell people about the side effects and importance. They can start doing recycling process.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 6.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0
The response addresses both parts of the prompt by discussing the reasons why people do not recycle as much as they could and offering solutions to change this behavior. The writer suggests that a lack of awareness, financial status, and materialism contribute to the problem, and proposes solutions such as government campaigns, specialized sorting dustbins, and stricter penalties. However, some ideas are slightly under-developed or rely on broad generalizations, such as the claim that people replace things simply because they do not value money. The position is generally clear throughout, but the depth of argument aligns more closely with the Band 6 descriptors.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0
The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with clear paragraphing, separating the introduction, reasons, solutions, and conclusion. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'On the one hand', 'For instance', and 'In conclusion', though some transitions feel a bit mechanical or repetitive. Referencing is occasionally unclear, as seen with ambiguous pronoun use like 'they are materialsitic' without a precise antecedent. Paragraph structure is maintained adequately, placing logical progression at a Band 6 level.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.0
The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting less common words such as 'materialsitic', 'brokendown', and 'regulations'. However, there are notable spelling and word-choice errors, such as 'area of the world' instead of 'areas', 'materialsitic' instead of 'materialistic', and awkward phrasing like 'organise new dustbins'. While communication is not severely impeded, these frequent lexical inaccuracies place the response firmly in the Band 5 category.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, including conditional structures ('If anything is damaged...') and relative clauses. However, there are frequent grammatical errors, such as missing articles ('Government does not spread'), tense inconsistencies, fragment sentences ('For instance such as Government and big companies...'), and subject-verb agreement issues ('someone does not'). These errors cause some difficulty for the reader and reflect typical Band 5 characteristics.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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