Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Academic Practice Accelerator · 2026-08-16
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 many nations, people do not recycle their waste of garbage as much as they could. This essay will discuss about why people not recycle their rubbish, with relevant example in forthcoming paragraph.
To begin with, there are several causes of people not recycle their garbage. Firstly, lack of product issues for recycling process. This because in market or home do not have particular items for worthless material. As a results, they are throw the wastage in different places. Secondly, people think recycling take to much time, in recent time they do not have much time for any other activates because of laziness and busy work schedule. For example, in many nations, people work hard for their career, so they do not have extra time for separate the waste and recycling their items.
However, there are several solution for citizens so they recycle the product. Firstly, the particular nation governments can provide the law and penalty for household waste. This can helps people awareness for recycling. Secondly, in school must teach the knowledge about recycling process so they can understand how to protect our environment. This will helps in new generation to do recycle is important for nation as well as humans. For example, in Japan government apply the rule for recycle and provide some bins for different types of waste , so citizens can easily find differences.
In conclusion, I believe governments should apply law for household waste, and give them knowledge about recycling so that they can understand the important of recycling. Thus, citizens must follow the law.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The essay addresses both parts of the prompt: reasons for low recycling rates and potential solutions. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited. For instance, the explanation regarding 'lack of product issues' is unclear and lacks specific detail. While the solutions provided—government legislation and education—are relevant, they are presented in a somewhat simplistic manner. The response would benefit from more detailed examples and a deeper exploration of the underlying causes, such as the lack of infrastructure or public awareness, to move into a higher band. The position is clear, but the supporting arguments lack depth.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The essay is organised into logical paragraphs, each with a clear focus. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'To begin with', 'Firstly', 'Secondly', and 'In conclusion', which help the reader follow the progression of ideas. However, the use of these devices is sometimes mechanical or repetitive. Additionally, there are instances where the flow is interrupted by grammatical errors, such as 'This because in market or home do not have particular items'. While the overall structure is coherent, the internal cohesion within paragraphs could be improved by using a wider variety of linking words and ensuring that referencing is more precise.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The vocabulary used is generally adequate for the task but lacks the range and precision expected at higher levels. There is some repetition of basic terms like 'recycling', 'waste', and 'garbage'. Some word choices are unnatural or inaccurate, such as 'lack of product issues' and 'apply the rule for recycle'. The student attempts to use some topic-specific vocabulary, but the control is inconsistent. To improve, the student should focus on learning collocations and more sophisticated synonyms to express ideas more precisely and avoid repetitive phrasing.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The essay contains a mix of simple and some attempted complex sentence structures. However, there are frequent grammatical errors throughout the text, including subject-verb agreement issues ('people not recycle', 'This can helps'), missing articles, and incorrect verb forms ('they are throw the wastage', 'do not have extra time for separate the waste'). These errors are noticeable and occasionally make the reader work harder to understand the intended meaning. While the meaning is generally clear, the lack of control over basic grammatical structures prevents a higher score.
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.