Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Academic Practice Accelerator · 2026-08-17

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 todays point of view in many countries most of the people they don't recycle their rubbish as much as they can because most of them think that it's a time waste to spent time on things to recycle them that's why thy just threw away their used items which can be recycled.

Eventually in todays live people spend more time on buying new things so they are neglecting the art of recycling and giving priority to new items which increases the amount of waste in the surroundings that will harm the nature and that habit will affect there earnings because they are buying new this which are not even necessary and those items can easily made by recycling which todays people are not understanding.

On behalf of this government should take strict actions against this, the items which can be easily make recycling those items should get expensive so the people can't afford them and make those items by recycling which will help in recycling rubbish.

Apart from that people should spread awareness among them about recycling and do such programs were the importance of recycling must be teach, after all this will help the people to recycle the recyclable items.

In my opinion people must know which items can be recycle and how they can be reuse as my experience i have seen many people use to throw there vegetables and fruit waste in dustbins which is not good that waste can be used as minerals for plants, by burring up that waste near the plants will provide minerals to plants.

In conclusion we can say that people should avoid this habit of not recycling their rubbish because in the end they will face the problems like pollution etc.

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. However, the development of ideas is somewhat superficial. For instance, the suggestion that the government should make new items more expensive is a relevant idea, but it lacks a detailed explanation of how this would be implemented or its potential economic impact. The points regarding awareness and composting are relevant but remain at a basic level of development. To reach a higher band, you need to provide more specific examples or deeper analysis of the consequences of your proposed solutions.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organised into paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the structure. However, the use of cohesive devices is often mechanical or inaccurate. Phrases like 'On behalf of this' and 'Apart from that' are used to transition, but they do not always logically connect the preceding and following ideas. Furthermore, the progression of ideas within paragraphs is sometimes disjointed, particularly in the second paragraph where the link between buying new items and the impact on earnings is unclear. Improving the variety and precision of linking words would significantly enhance the flow of your writing.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task but lacks the range and precision required for higher bands. There are several instances of awkward word choices and collocations, such as 'time waste' instead of 'waste of time', 'burring up' instead of 'burying', and 'in todays live' instead of 'in today's life'. Additionally, there are frequent spelling errors (e.g., 'thy' for 'they', 'threw' for 'throw', 'make' for 'made'). While the meaning is generally clear, the limited range and recurring errors in word formation and spelling restrict the score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The essay relies heavily on simple sentence structures, and attempts at complex sentences often contain grammatical errors. There are frequent issues with subject-verb agreement (e.g., 'items can easily made') and tense consistency. Punctuation is also problematic, with many run-on sentences that lack necessary commas or full stops, making the text difficult to parse in places. For example, the first paragraph is essentially one long, unpunctuated sentence. To improve, focus on mastering basic sentence construction and ensuring that your verb forms and word order are accurate before attempting more complex structures.

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

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