Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · IELTS General Essentials · 2026-10-31

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 6.0)

In many nations, citizens fail torecycle their waste as much as they could.This is mainly because some governments do not prioritize sustainable development and also people's low sense of ownership, nevertheless, increasing people's awareness and encouraging all act of recycling are the keys to alter this situation.

In several countries, Environmental issues are not in the top priorities, this is the main reason why people are not engaged in recycling, In other words,despite the awful environmental situation, many nations , especially the least developed ones don't put environment and sustainable development in their top priorities except some low voices, and that's because they are facing many political and fianancial difficulties and instabilities. consequently, that curbs citizens sense of ownership towards the nation, the environment and the whole world. For instance, nowadays, people facing poverty, wars, instability and even hunger, are the least to think about recycling and environment protection.

This phenomenon can be mitigated mainly by an engaged government who encourages its citizens to recycle waste and facilitates all the recycling operations financially and administratively. The perfect example that perfectly illustrates this is Germany; in Germany, plastic bottles recycling machine are now widespread throughout the country and provides generous amount of money in exchange to some plastic bottles to be recycled, the funny thing is that now in Germany, finding gold is easier than finding a plastic bottle.

In conclusion, although life difficulties and countries challenges can decrease recycling among the people, it can be encreased by several techniques that encourage them to do so.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

You address both questions and give a consistent explanation: limited government priority, political and financial hardship, and weak public ownership can reduce recycling. The example of people facing poverty or conflict helps illustrate why environmental concerns may be secondary. You also propose government encouragement and practical support, with Germany’s bottle-return machines as a relevant example. This meets the task well, but the causes are developed more fully than the solutions: the response does not explain in much detail how awareness campaigns or administrative support would change everyday behaviour. The conclusion restates the general point rather than drawing together the specific causes and measures. More explanation of how each proposed action works would make the response more fully developed and precise throughout.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response has a clear overall structure: an introduction, a paragraph explaining causes, a paragraph proposing action, and a conclusion. The progression from national priorities to citizens’ attitudes is understandable, and phrases such as “For instance” and “In conclusion” help signal relationships between ideas. However, some connections are mechanical or unclear. The opening sentence of the causes paragraph joins two complete ideas with a comma, while “consequently” does not clearly show the link between hardship and reduced ownership. The long sentence beginning “despite the awful environmental situation” also contains several ideas that would be easier to follow if divided. Use clearer sentence boundaries and more precise referencing, and connect each solution directly to the cause it addresses.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range for the topic, including “sustainable development,” “environmental issues,” “political and financial difficulties,” and “recycling operations.” These choices communicate the main ideas, and the Germany example gives the discussion some specificity. There are also attempts at less common phrasing, such as “sense of ownership,” though its meaning is not fully clear in this context. Several word-choice, collocation, and spelling problems reduce precision: “top priorities” is repeated, “low voices” does not express the intended idea, and “fianancial” and “encreased” are misspelled. “The funny thing” is also too informal for this essay. Aim for more natural collocations and a consistently formal register, while checking spelling and avoiding repetition.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt a mix of simple and complex structures, including a concessive clause (“despite the awful environmental situation”) and a relative clause (“who encourages its citizens”). The main message remains understandable, but some grammatical and punctuation errors make the sentences less controlled. For example, “plastic bottles recycling machine … provides” has problems with number agreement, and “people facing poverty … are the least to think” lacks a finite verb in the first clause and uses an awkward comparison structure. Several sentences are joined with commas where a full stop or conjunction is needed, and capitalisation after sentence boundaries is inconsistent. Break up the longest sentences, check subject–verb agreement and clause completeness, and proofread punctuation to improve accuracy while retaining complex forms.

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