Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS General Essentials · 2026-10-13

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)

Globally, waste material is the strong sensation point of discussion. It is proven fact that people can make a lot of things out of it instead of throwing. In this essay, I'll discuss the reasons behind this and give the prompt solution to deal with it.

To begin with, one of the main reason behind this situation can be more population. As there are less machines who can turn trash into useful things. People are not following the rules as well. Despite of this, new infrastructure and lack of desire to do this can be reason. Inconvenience and lack of access to the garbage bin is the main factor. In many rural areas, there is no facility of picking up waste on weekly times.

However, some laws should be made to reduce the waste. Trash bins should categorised according to organic, recycleable and paper waste. In every society, authorities should keep dumpsters to help people to dump any trash into totes. Government should make flexes to make youth aware about recycling. Weekly seminars by the towns should be organised for more awareness. Municipal council should hire more staff for cleaning purposes so each and every street can be free from rubbish things.

On balance, I firmly believe that people should follow the rules to keep environment fresh by recycle the waste material and reuse that for their daily chores. Organic trash can be use as a organic fertilizers for plants.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response5.0
Coherence and Cohesion6.0
Lexical Resource5.0
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.0
Overall5.5

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You address both questions: you identify possible causes, including limited facilities, inconvenience and low awareness, and suggest measures such as sorting bins, public education and more municipal staff. However, the response only partially develops these points. For example, “more population” and “less machines” are mentioned without explaining how they lead to low recycling, while the proposed laws and seminars are not linked to specific barriers. Your position is clearest in the conclusion, but it does not fully resolve the discussion. The response is also 10 words below the required minimum, which limits the space available to explain and support your ideas. Develop fewer, more relevant points with a clear explanation or example for each.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable overall structure: an introduction, a paragraph on causes, a paragraph on solutions and a concluding statement. This makes the main stages of the answer easy to identify. You also use basic signposting such as “To begin with,” “However,” and “On balance.” At times, though, the progression within paragraphs is less clear: several causes are listed in quick succession, and the relationship between population, machinery, rules and infrastructure is not explained. Some linking is mechanical, and “Despite of this” does not clearly connect the ideas around it. Group related points and use linking phrases to show cause, contrast or result more precisely; this would make the argument flow more naturally.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some topic-related vocabulary, including “recycle,” “waste,” “infrastructure,” “authorities” and “municipal council,” so the subject is generally clear. However, the range is limited and several inaccurate or unnatural expressions make parts of the response difficult to interpret. For instance, “strong sensation point of discussion” does not convey the intended idea, and “make flexes” is unclear in the context of public awareness. There are also spelling and word-form problems, such as “recycleable” and “fertilizers” used where a more suitable form is needed. Build a reliable set of collocations for waste management and check that each chosen phrase expresses your meaning precisely.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt a mixture of simple statements and longer constructions, including “Despite of this, new infrastructure and lack of desire to do this can be reason.” However, the range is limited, and errors in sentence structure and grammatical forms occur often enough to make some sentences awkward or unclear. Examples include “one of the main reason,” “Trash bins should categorised,” and “Organic trash can be use,” where agreement or verb forms are incorrect. Articles and prepositions also need attention, as in “can be reason” and “Despite of this.” Practise forming accurate passive structures and checking singular/plural agreement, articles and verb forms. Shorter, well-controlled sentences would help communicate your ideas more clearly.

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

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