Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Academic Practice Accelerator · 2026-11-08

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)

It is true that, in many countries people do not recycle their household waste products the way they should have done. A major reason of the behaviour is the lack of public awareness about the importance of recycling. I believe, both governments and individuals should be more careful about recycling the products they discard every day.

The major contributing factors of the unpopularity of recycling process is the lack of public awareness and insufficient waste collection process. Many common people are not aware of the disadvantages of throwing undisposable waste with other disposable household wastages. If reclyclable waste like plastic, polybags etc are mixed with other rubbish, they sometimes end up in some low lands creating water clogging by blocking the drainage systems. Another reason can be the unavailability of separate waste collectors. If people can not find a separate bin or waste collector where they can put their nondisposable waste, they might end up throwing all rubbish together.

To mitigate this problem, governmnet should take initiatives to run campaigns for raising awareness and establish proper waste collection systems. If people learn about the detrimental effect of throwing away rubbish on the environment, they might be more careful about it.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You address both questions by identifying limited awareness and inadequate separate waste collection as reasons, then proposing campaigns and better collection systems. These points are relevant, but they are only briefly explained: for example, the effect of mixed waste on drainage is mentioned without showing how this relates to recycling rates more broadly, and the proposed campaigns are not illustrated with a practical example. The response also does not clearly develop a position beyond saying that governments and individuals should be more careful. The required minimum of 250 words is not met: the response contains 192 words, with eight words copied from the prompt excluded. Develop each reason and solution with explanation or a specific example to address the task more fully.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, a paragraph explaining causes, and a final paragraph offering solutions. The ideas within the causes paragraph follow a sensible order, moving from awareness to the availability of separate bins, and linking phrases such as “Another reason” and “To mitigate this problem” help signal the stages. However, the final paragraph is very short and gives only one brief explanation of the solutions, so the overall progression feels incomplete. Some connections are also imprecise, such as the shift from recyclable waste to “nondisposable waste,” which makes the relationship between the examples less clear. Use a fuller solutions paragraph and connect each proposed action directly to the problem it addresses.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use some topic-specific vocabulary, including “public awareness,” “waste collection systems,” “recyclable waste,” and “drainage systems,” which makes the subject clear. There are also attempts at more formal phrasing, such as “contributing factors” and “detrimental effect.” However, several word choices and collocations are inaccurate or awkward, including “unpopularity of recycling process,” “disadvantages of throwing undisposable waste,” and “household wastages.” Spelling errors such as “reclyclable” and “governmnet” are noticeable. These issues do not prevent the reader from understanding the main points, but they limit precision. Prefer standard terms such as “low recycling rates,” “non-recyclable waste,” and “household waste,” and check spelling carefully.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt a mix of simple and complex sentences, including conditional structures such as “If people can not find a separate bin … they might end up throwing all rubbish together.” Most sentences communicate the intended meaning, and the response uses some subordinate clauses to explain causes and consequences. However, there are recurring errors in agreement, articles, and sentence construction. For example, “The major contributing factors … is” should use a plural verb, while “A major reason of the behaviour” has an incorrect preposition and article pattern. The opening sentence also uses “should have done” where a present-tense form is needed. Review subject–verb agreement and article/preposition patterns, then proofread punctuation, including the comma after “countries.”

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

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