Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Academic Practice Accelerator · 2026-08-14

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)

In this recent era, in many nations individuals are not giving their rubbish for recycling as much as they could. I believe that there are some issues in between which can be measure through several steps taken and it will discussed in the subsequent paragraphs.

I think that there are some reasons for this change. First and forest is lack of awareness. To elaborate it, people don't know how to separate their rubbish and they mixed up the thing here and their which is the most people faced. Secondly, there are not enough recycle bins in the residential area and due to that they are do not recycling their rubbish. Moreover, lack of motivation is another issue for this problem. To detail it out, a range of individual think this recycling process is very time consuming.

Paradoxically, there are some solution which can mitigates this problem. Firstly, policy makers should run a campaign on this recycling separating process so everyone can knows. Additionally, they can schools should also educate the pupils about recycling to overcome this issue. Secondly, government should provide bins in every corner of the city for making convenient for the citizens to use it. Finally, Financial incentives and penalties also encourage the individuals to do recycle their rubbish. For instance, in many large countries, there are rules for recycling usable products in a right order and in return they provide them some amount of financial benefits which encourage them to do it regularly.

Conclusively, although there are issues are lack of motivation, Inconveniency and poor government facilities which can be measures by taking several steps like awareness campaigns, financial benefits, penalties.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses both parts of the prompt: reasons for low recycling rates and potential solutions. The ideas are relevant, such as the lack of awareness, insufficient infrastructure, and the role of financial incentives. However, the development is somewhat superficial. For instance, the suggestion to 'run a campaign' or 'educate pupils' is mentioned but not expanded upon with sufficient detail or depth to reach a higher band. The position is clear throughout, but the conclusion is slightly repetitive and lacks a final summary statement that synthesizes the arguments effectively. To improve, ensure that each point is supported by a more detailed explanation or a more specific example.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organized into logical paragraphs, with a clear introduction, body paragraphs for reasons and solutions, and a conclusion. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'First and forest' (likely meant 'foremost'), 'Secondly', 'Moreover', and 'Conclusively'. However, the use of these devices is sometimes mechanical or inaccurate. For example, 'In this recent era' is an awkward opening, and 'Paradoxically' is used incorrectly to introduce solutions, as there is no paradox involved. Referencing is generally clear, but the flow between sentences could be smoother. The paragraphing is appropriate, but the internal cohesion within paragraphs needs more variety and precision.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is adequate for the task but lacks the range and precision required for higher bands. There are several instances of awkward phrasing and word choice errors, such as 'mixed up the thing here and their' (should be 'there'), 'detail it out', and 'Inconveniency'. While the student attempts to use some topic-specific vocabulary like 'financial incentives' and 'policy makers', the overall control is inconsistent. Some expressions are repetitive, and the student struggles with collocations. To improve, focus on learning more natural word combinations and avoiding informal or unidiomatic phrasing.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors that occasionally impede the flow. Examples include 'they are do not recycling' (should be 'they do not recycle'), 'everyone can knows' (should be 'everyone can know'), and 'there are issues are lack of motivation'. Subject-verb agreement and verb tense consistency are recurring issues. While the meaning is generally clear, the high frequency of errors prevents the response from reaching a higher band. Focusing on basic sentence construction and proofreading for subject-verb agreement would significantly improve the clarity and accuracy of the writing.

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

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