Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · IELTS Academic Practice Accelerator · 2026-11-06

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)

People do not reuse their waste as much as they could, due to the lack of awareness and facilities. This can be changed through proper education and government action.

The main reason for not recycling rubbish is that individuals do not have enough amenities of different coloured, separate bins for plastic, paper and glass. They throw everything together in the same bin. The other significant factor is that people are unaware and lazy; therefore, they don't put in the effort to separate the combined waste materials for recycling. Moreover, they are not educated enough about the benefits of reusing waste materials in this environmentally friendly approach. For instance, many cities have only one large bin for garbage instead of separate bins with proper signs. Only healthcare centers have these three coloured, red, yellow and white, separate bins for glass, plastic and paper waste.

This can be changed if proper awareness and facilities are provided by the government. Government action plays a crucial role in maintaining this eco-friendly approach. The authorities should educate the public through proper campaigns and seminars about the advantages of recycling. They should also arrange separate bins with signs showing which bin is used for the specific waste. The government should announce rewards and fines for it. To illustrate, the authorities should impose fines on those who don't recycle their rubbish and give rewards to those who follow the rules properly.

In conclusion, although the public doesn't have adequate resources and knowledge about recycling, the government should provide adequate amenities, awareness and policies for this.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.0

The response addresses both questions and maintains a clear position: limited facilities and awareness are identified as causes, while education, bins, and incentives or penalties are proposed as solutions. The examples of cities with one general bin and the suggested fines and rewards help make the points relevant. This fits a response that covers the task and supports its main ideas. To strengthen the development further, explain more fully how laziness or lack of knowledge leads people not to recycle, and how the proposed incentives would change behaviour. The claim that healthcare centres have three coloured bins is specific, but its relevance to household recycling could be made clearer.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 7.0

The essay has a clear overall progression: an opening summary is followed by a paragraph on causes, a paragraph on solutions, and a conclusion. Linking expressions such as “Moreover,” “For instance,” and “To illustrate” help signal relationships between ideas, and the reader can follow the argument throughout. Some connections are less smooth because points are added rather than fully linked: the example about healthcare centres, for instance, does not clearly show how household facilities could be improved. The conclusion also repeats the opening ideas without drawing them together in a more developed way. Use referencing and transitions to show more explicitly how each example supports the point before it.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

The vocabulary is adequate for discussing recycling, and phrases such as “environmentally friendly,” “public campaigns,” and “impose fines” communicate the main ideas clearly. There are also attempts at more formal wording, including “authorities” and “maintaining this eco-friendly approach.” However, some choices are imprecise or unnatural: “reuse their waste” is not quite the same as recycling, “amenities” does not fit naturally for bins, and “the combined waste materials” is unclear. Repetition of “proper,” “government,” and “separate bins” also limits flexibility. Choose more precise topic vocabulary and check common collocations so that the meaning remains clear while the range becomes more natural.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.5

The response uses a mix of simple and complex structures, including a cause-and-effect sentence with “therefore,” a conditional construction (“This can be changed if…”), and a concession in the conclusion (“although…”). Most sentences are understandable, and errors rarely obstruct the message. Some grammatical control is still uneven: “the lack of awareness and facilities” is followed by “This can be changed” with a slightly unclear reference, and “The government should announce rewards and fines for it” uses an unclear pronoun. The opening phrase “due to the lack…” also creates a sentence fragment after the main clause. Aim to make sentence boundaries and pronoun references precise, and vary complex structures while checking that each clause is complete.

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

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