Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · IELTS General Essentials · 2026-10-29

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 countries, individual fail to recycle their garbage less than their ability. This is because of lack of knowledge about recycling and busy lifestyle of the working individuals. This essay will provide possible solutions for this issue.

One of the main reason behind this problem is, people are not taught about the benefits of recycling. Due to less focus on teaching recycling and waste management in schools and universtiies, youth have no idea how they can deal with the household waste. Futhermore, working professionals who are well educated have no time to separate different kinds of waste from each other. For example, Organic waste is mixed with recyclable waste which make it difficult to process at waste management plants. As a result, government fail to reuse this waste for its energy production factories.

The solution for this problem is to educate citizens about the advantages of recycling and managing their garbage properly. Government should encourage individuals to put recycable and non recyclable garbage separately. Moreover, city administration should impose heavy fines on people who fails to follow rules and regulations regarding waste management. For instance, many western countries have a proper system to collect different kind of garbage on different days. Consequently, the environment remains unaffected and the city and neighbourhood look nice and clean.

In conclusion, having insufficient knowledge and less time are the main reasons behind people not thinking about waste management. However, implementing strict rules and providing proper guidance by the city officials could be long term solutions for this issue.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response6.5
Coherence and Cohesion7.0
Lexical Resource6.0
Grammatical Range and Accuracy6.0
Overall6.5

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

You address both parts of the question and maintain a clear focus on causes and possible remedies. The causes—limited knowledge and lack of time—are relevant, and the example of organic waste being mixed with recyclable material helps explain the practical consequences. Your proposed education, separate collection and fines also respond directly to the problem. This meets the core requirements strongly, but the ideas are not equally developed: the lack of time is mentioned briefly, and the benefits of recycling and the likely effectiveness of fines are not explained in much detail. The example about collection on different days is useful, though it would be stronger if linked more explicitly to how it changes household behaviour. More explanation and support would make the response more fully developed.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 7.0

The response has a clear overall structure: an introduction, a paragraph on causes, a paragraph on solutions and a conclusion. The progression is easy to follow, and signposts such as “One of the main reason,” “The solution,” and “In conclusion” help readers identify the stages of the argument. Examples are generally placed beside the points they support. To make the organisation more fluent, reduce reliance on formulaic transitions such as “Furthermore,” “As a result,” and “Consequently,” and show the relationship between ideas more precisely. For instance, the link between separate collection and a cleaner neighbourhood could be explained rather than simply asserted. Some references, such as “this waste,” could also be made more specific.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range of topic vocabulary, including “waste management,” “recyclable,” “separate,” “impose heavy fines,” and “energy production.” These choices make the subject clear, and you attempt some more formal expressions such as “working professionals” and “implementing strict rules.” However, several word choices and collocations are inaccurate or unnatural, including “individual fail to recycle their garbage less than their ability,” “less focus on teaching,” and “different kinds of waste from each other.” Spelling errors such as “universtiies,” “Futhermore,” and “recycable” also reduce accuracy. Aim for more natural collocations and check spelling carefully; this would make your vocabulary more precise without requiring unnecessarily complex words.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, including cause clauses with “because” and “Due to,” and a relative clause in “who are well educated.” Most of the argument remains understandable, but some grammatical errors recur. For example, “individual fail” needs subject–verb agreement, “One of the main reason” needs a plural noun, and “which make it difficult” needs agreement with “Organic waste.” Articles and sentence construction also need attention in “In most of the countries” and “This is because of lack of knowledge.” Review agreement, articles and singular/plural forms, then proofread each sentence. Greater accuracy in these patterns would strengthen the control of your otherwise clear sentence structures.

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.