Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · 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 6.5)

In most of the nations, people do not used to recycle thier waste as much as they could. This is because of lack of awareness and facilities. Government should run campans to spread knowleadge and provide measurments.

One major reason why people do not recycle enough is a lack of awareness. Some people do not understand the environmental consequences of throwing recyclable materials away. Others may know about recycling but find it inconvenient because recycling bins and collection services are not easily available. In addition, some people believe that recycling takes too much time and effort. Another important factor is that many products are packaged in materials that are difficult to recycle, which can make recycling more complicated for consumers.

There are several ways to encourage people to recycle more. First, governments should provide convenient recycling facilities and regular collection services in residential areas. If recycling bins are easily accessible, people are more likely to use them. Second, schools and the media should educate the public about the benefits of recycling and the harmful effects of excessive waste. Governments could also introduce financial incentives, such as refunds for returning bottles and cans, or impose higher charges on businesses that produce excessive non-recyclable waste.

In conclusion, people often fail to recycle because of a lack of awareness, inconvenience and insufficient incentives. Governments, businesses and educational institutions should work together to make recycling easier and more attractive. With better facilities and greater public awareness, recycling rates could increase significantly.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The response addresses both parts of the prompt directly, exploring the reasons why people do not recycle as much as they could and offering viable solutions. The introduction clearly sets up the essay, and the body paragraphs are well-developed with specific ideas such as a lack of awareness, inconvenience, and the need for governmental incentives. However, the task achievement score is slightly impacted by the word count constraint, as the student's response contains only 247 words, narrowly missing the 250-word minimum requirement. Despite this minor shortcoming, the ideas are extended and supported effectively throughout the main paragraphs, demonstrating a clear understanding of the task requirements and presenting a relevant, coherent position.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The essay displays a clear logical organisation and progression throughout. The response is divided into logical paragraphs, with an introduction, two well-structured body paragraphs addressing causes and solutions, and a concise conclusion. Cohesive devices are used appropriately to connect ideas, such as "One major reason", "In addition", "Another important factor", and "First, governments should". Referencing throughout the text is generally clear, and paragraphing is used sufficiently to structure the argument. The progression of ideas is smooth, guiding the reader logically from the problems associated with recycling to practical measures for improvement without noticeable confusion.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The student demonstrates an adequate to sufficient range of vocabulary for the task, successfully using terms such as "environmental consequences", "inconvenient", "residential areas", and "financial incentives". There are, however, a few spelling and word-choice errors in the opening sentence, such as "nations" (instead of "countries"), "used to recycle" (where the structure is awkward for expressing habit or current practice), and "thier". Despite these occasional errors, the vocabulary is generally precise enough to convey the intended meaning clearly, and the student successfully attempts less common lexical items related to environmental issues.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The writing contains a good mix of simple and complex sentence forms. The student successfully employs conditional structures, such as "If recycling bins are easily accessible, people are more likely to use them," and relative clauses. There are some noticeable grammatical errors in the opening paragraph, notably "people do not used to recycle thier waste" and spelling mistakes like "campans" and "knowleadge", alongside "measurments" instead of "measures". However, the majority of sentences in the body paragraphs are well-controlled and accurate, ensuring that these errors rarely impede communication and do not obscure the overall meaning of the text.

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