Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Academic Practice Accelerator · 2026-09-03

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 part of the world, it is not a common practice to recycle waste as much as they can. In my opinion, allot of factors influence this behaviour.

Recycling waste is important to keep surroundings clean, and it also helps excessive clutter stop from forming.Low recycling rates occur because communities lack convenient infrastructure and clear public education, as well as lack of facilities and rules. For example, sorting waste and finding closer drop off points takes extra time and effort. Moreover, people residing in small local areas also lack the knowledge about materials, that are recyclable. Hence they either waste everything together, or keep saving excessive clutter. In addition to that, neighborhoods often lack separate bins or regular collection services for reusable materials, and government rarely enforces mandatory sorting rules or penalize improper waste disposal. for example, like in china, germany, dubai, it is not permissible to throw waste randomly, and if one does, they get penalties charged on them, so they have to follow those strict rules in order to keep the surroundings clean.

However, there are plenty of precaution that we as a society can take in order to prevent such actions. For instance, authorities should provide separate labelled bins for recycling in local neighbourhoods, so that they are easily accessible, schools and media campaigns can also spread awareness in public about this practice, teaching them related to materials that are recyclable and what impact does recycling has on environment. government should also enforce strict law and penalty against such irresponsible actions.

In conclusion, it is our duty to keep our surroundings clean, and we all should be more mindful of our choices and actions. On top of that authorities should educate public, while Implementing strict laws.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

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 infrastructure and the need for public education. However, the development is somewhat uneven. While the reasons are clearly stated, the solutions section could be more detailed. For instance, the mention of 'strict laws' is a good point, but it could be expanded by explaining how these laws would be implemented or monitored. The position is clear throughout, and the response maintains a consistent focus on the topic, meeting the requirements for a Band 6.5 or 7.0, though it leans towards 6.5 due to the slightly generic nature of the development.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is logically organized with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the two main questions. Cohesive devices such as 'Moreover', 'In addition to that', and 'For instance' are used to link ideas. However, some transitions feel slightly mechanical, and there are minor issues with referencing and punctuation, such as the lowercase 'for example' in the middle of a sentence and the inconsistent capitalization of countries. The progression of ideas is generally clear, but the flow could be smoother with more varied cohesive links. It meets the criteria for Band 6.0.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is adequate for the task, allowing the writer to express ideas clearly. There is an attempt to use topic-specific vocabulary like 'recyclable', 'infrastructure', and 'mandatory sorting rules'. However, the range is somewhat limited, and there are some inaccuracies in word choice, such as 'allot of factors' (should be 'a lot of') and 'excessive clutter stop from forming'. The use of 'precaution' instead of 'measures' or 'steps' is also slightly imprecise. While communication is not impeded, the lack of more sophisticated or varied lexical items keeps the score at a 6.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are several grammatical errors, including subject-verb agreement issues ('government rarely enforces... or penalize', 'what impact does recycling has'), missing articles ('in many part of the world'), and punctuation errors (run-on sentences and inconsistent capitalization). While the meaning is generally clear, these frequent errors in basic grammar and punctuation prevent the essay from reaching a higher band. The complexity of the structures is present but not always accurate, which is characteristic of a Band 6.0 performance.

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

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