Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS General Essentials · 2026-10-21

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 many Cities, residents do not recycle their rubbish as they could. This essy will highlight why I think this is and also elborate on what could done to change this.

Rubbish recycling has a great deal of benefits to the people. for example, recyling of rubbish makes the environment clean. There will not be room for unwanted items to be scatter all over the place. Secondly, rubbish reccyling adds to the income of the people as the recycling company buys of the rubbishes from the people.

Despite all the merits of recycling, in many cities, people do not recycle their rubbish as they could. For example, last month I to Benin Republic. Right from the airport to the hotel where I lodged, the entire streets had rubbish scattered all over. There were no refuse bins seen any where in that city . I tried to find out from the hotel employees why there were no refuse bins and why plastic bottles were litered every where rather than being put together for recycling.

The confirmed that they do not recycle their waste becasue they do not know of the benefits.

This attitude of not recycling waste could be changed by training the people in the cities on the importance of rubbish recycling. This could done by organising seminars and using necessaary institutions like churches and schools to launch campaigns in support of rubbish recycling. These will make the people understand the benefits of recycling their rubbish.

In conclusion, In several countries, people do not recycle their waste because they do not know the benefits. In other to change this attitude, seminars have to be organised and also institutions like the churches and schools should carry out campaigns for rubbish recycling..

AI examiner evaluation

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

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You address both questions: you suggest that people may not recycle because they do not understand its benefits, and propose education through seminars, churches and schools. The Benin Republic example gives the explanation some personal support. However, the response only partially develops the task: the cause is presented mainly as lack of awareness, without exploring other plausible barriers such as limited collection services or inconvenience. The proposed campaigns are relevant, but you do not explain how they would lead to practical recycling or who would organise them. The opening promises to explain the issue, but the position and supporting ideas remain limited. Develop each point with a clear explanation and a specific example of how the solution would work.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable overall arrangement: an introduction, paragraphs on benefits and the cause, a proposed solution, and a conclusion. Sequencing is generally understandable, and signposts such as “Secondly,” “Despite,” and “In conclusion” help readers follow the discussion. However, the paragraph about recycling’s benefits does not clearly connect to the later explanation of why people fail to recycle, so the progression is not consistently focused on the two questions. Some links are mechanical, and references such as “These” in “These will make the people understand” are not fully clear. The conclusion repeats the main points rather than drawing them together. Make each paragraph serve one task question and use clearer links between cause, example, and solution.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use relevant topic vocabulary, including “recycle,” “rubbish,” “refuse bins,” “plastic bottles,” “campaigns,” and “benefits,” so the main subject is clear. There are also attempts at more specific expressions, such as “launch campaigns” and “recycling company.” However, the range is limited and several spelling and word-choice errors are noticeable, including “essy,” “elborate,” “recyling,” “reccyling,” and “litered.” Some phrases are awkward or imprecise, for example “buys of the rubbishes” and “room for unwanted items to be scatter.” These errors reduce fluency and can make parts of the message harder to understand. Check spelling carefully and learn natural collocations for waste collection and recycling.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You use mostly straightforward sentence patterns and attempt some longer structures, including “Despite all the merits of recycling…” and the sentence explaining how seminars and institutions could help. Meaning is usually recoverable, but control is inconsistent: several sentences contain errors in verb forms, agreement, or sentence construction. For example, “This could done” needs an auxiliary, “the entire streets had rubbish scattered” has an agreement problem, and “The confirmed” is missing a subject. The opening also uses “why I think this is” without a clear grammatical reference. Punctuation and capitalisation are uneven, particularly in “In conclusion, In several countries.” Practise accurate complex sentences and check each sentence for a complete subject and verb, correct agreement, and consistent punctuation.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.