Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · IELTS Academic Practice Accelerator · 2026-11-13

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)

Although, in some countries citizens recycle their waste, still in many countries recycling rate remains low. This essay will examine the reasons and suggest some solutions.

Firstly, one prime reason is lack of awareness, individuals have no idea how to recycle the materials separately. They do not know that glass, paper, plastic bottles should be separated. They put all the waste in one container. For example, in Pakistan, mostly people throw plastic bottles in the dustbin. As a result, pollution increases and recycling resources are wasted. Secondly, in most houses, there is only one bin where all household waste materials are put in one dustbin. People do not make an effort to put in separated dustbins. They have not separate dustbins for recycling material.

Regarding the solutions, government plays a key role in promoting the recycling material. They have to give separated bins so people throw their waste in different dustbins. For instance, red dustbins should be used for metal, blue dustbin for plastic also label on them, so children's can understand too. Another solution is awareness and reward, there should be campaigns about how to recycle material with its importance so people know how much important this step is. Also incentive should be given to people who recycle their material, it encouraged people to do this for achieving the reward too. One best example about Germany where people give back plastic bottle shopkeepers give money to them.

In conclusion, lack of awareness and inconvenience are the major reason why people not citizens not recycle their material. But I believe that government can encourage to people by providing bins with different colours and giving them reward of this action.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

You address both questions and maintain a clear focus on low recycling rates. Lack of awareness and limited access to separate bins are relevant causes, while government-provided bins, campaigns and incentives are practical responses. The examples from Pakistan and Germany help make the discussion concrete. This meets the core requirements well, but some ideas are more fully explained than others: the Pakistan example illustrates disposal habits, yet the link between those habits and low recycling could be clearer, and the proposed colour-coded bins are not explained in terms of how they would be collected or used. To strengthen the response further, develop each main point with a clearer explanation of its effect and support the solutions with specific details about implementation or likely results.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response has a clear overall structure: an introduction, a paragraph on causes, a paragraph on solutions and a conclusion. Sequencing is generally easy to follow, and signposts such as “Firstly,” “Secondly,” “Regarding the solutions” and “In conclusion” help readers identify the stages of the argument. However, cohesion is sometimes mechanical, and connections between sentences are not always smooth. For example, the discussion of separate bins repeats the same point in “there is only one bin” and “They have not separate dustbins,” while the transition from awareness to incentives could be more clearly explained. The conclusion also repeats the main ideas without adding much synthesis. Use referencing and linking more flexibly, and organise each paragraph around a distinct point with explanation and example.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use enough topic-related vocabulary to communicate the main ideas, including “recycle,” “household waste,” “pollution,” “campaigns” and “incentive.” The examples also show an attempt to use specific terms such as “plastic bottles” and “dustbins.” However, word choice and collocation are often inaccurate or repetitive, which limits precision: “recycling material” is repeated where “recyclable waste” or “recyclables” would be more natural, and “give back plastic bottle shopkeepers give money” is difficult to interpret. Phrases such as “how much important” and “reward of this action” are also unnatural. Build a wider range of accurate expressions for causes, collection systems and incentives, and check collocations and word forms when revising.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and more developed sentence forms, and the overall meaning is usually recoverable. For instance, the response uses examples introduced with “For example” and “For instance,” as well as a contrastive conclusion beginning with “But.” However, some grammatical errors affect clarity and control. The opening “Although, in some countries citizens recycle their waste, still…” has faulty clause structure, and “it encouraged people” shifts tense in a general statement. There are also agreement and sentence-pattern problems in “the major reason” and “government can encourage to people.” Aim to form complete clauses with accurate connectors, maintain present tense for general claims, and check subject–verb agreement, articles and plural forms. More accurate complex sentences would improve the range as well as reliability.

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.