Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS General Essentials · 2026-10-15

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)

A lot of individuals of different nations are not reusing their waste products as much as they can. This is majorly due to unawareness and lack of knowledge among the individuals. This trend can be replaced by helping the people to get motivated to reuse their waste products and understand their social responsibility towards the environment.

One of the compelling reasons for this trend is people are not aware that they can reuse the waste products they have. For instance glass bottle can be used more then once but many people just throw them after one use. Other reason is to showoff or the status symbol of not using one product again, this negative trend is majorly in clothing department.As women in the society tend not to wear same dress on different occasions and this will negatively impact by not recycling the product.

To replace this negative trend, the government should motivate the people by campaigning various awareness programs and aware them to reuse the product like cloth bags. Also they should start paying by imposing vending machines, which may give money for waste material,. This will help people to earn money out of their waste material, and they will not throw it. Also a positive aspect of recycling goods will be in the trend.

To conclude, this negative trend should be reduced and the nation should get aware about its adverse effects, and also the government. steps should help people earn and reduce their rubbish. This will increase the amout of recycling of products. and less wastage.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response6.0
Coherence and Cohesion6.0
Lexical Resource5.5
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.0
Overall5.5

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The response addresses both questions: it identifies limited awareness and social-status habits as reasons for low recycling, then proposes awareness campaigns and payment for returned waste. The examples of glass bottles and clothing make the causes more concrete, and the overall position—that people and government should act—is clear. However, some points are only partly explained. The clothing example focuses on wearing different outfits but does not clearly show how this leads to less recycling or what practical change would address it. The vending-machine proposal also needs clarification about how the machines would operate and what materials they would accept. Develop each main idea with a clearer explanation of its effect and a specific example.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The essay has a recognisable structure: an introduction, a paragraph on causes, a paragraph on solutions, and a conclusion. This gives the reader a coherent overall route through the response, and linking expressions such as “For instance,” “To replace this negative trend,” and “To conclude” help signal the stages. However, cohesion is sometimes mechanical, with repeated references to “this negative trend” and “waste products,” and some links between ideas are unclear. For example, the move from clothing habits to the effect on recycling needs a more explicit explanation. The final paragraph also repeats earlier points rather than drawing them together. Use clearer referencing and connect each example directly to the point it supports.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The response uses enough topic vocabulary to communicate its main ideas, including “reuse,” “waste material,” “awareness programs,” “social responsibility,” and “adverse effects.” There are also attempts at more specific expressions, such as “status symbol” and “vending machines.” However, word choice and collocation are often inaccurate or repetitive: “reusing their waste products” is less natural than “recycling their rubbish,” while “paying by imposing vending machines” does not clearly express the intended incentive. “Majorly” and “showoff” are also unsuitable in these contexts, and spelling errors such as “amout” reduce accuracy. Aim for precise, natural phrases and check spelling; avoid repeating the same general terms when a more exact word is available.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The essay includes both simple statements and attempts at longer structures, for example the sentence beginning “For instance” and the explanation of how campaigns could encourage reuse. The main message is generally understandable, but some grammatical errors and punctuation problems remain. Examples include “One of the compelling reasons … is people are not aware,” which needs a clearer clause structure, and “glass bottle can be used more then once,” where the article and comparative expression are inaccurate. The sentence beginning “As women in the society…” is also awkwardly connected to the preceding point, and several sentence boundaries are unclear, particularly in the conclusion. Practise accurate articles, clause linking, and sentence punctuation while retaining a mix of sentence forms.

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

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