Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Academic Practice Accelerator · 2026-09-14

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)

The problem of not recycling rubbish is among the prominent issues of the modern world. From my perspective, the people should recycle their trash as much as they could, because it will lead to reduce the hazardous consequences of its deposition on environment.

The primary reason to support this initiative is that recycling of waste plays vital role in reducing the emergence of pollutants in ecosystem. Less recycling rate will lead to the emergence of contaminants in ecosystem which could lead to the increase in the level of pollution which would ultimately cause various severe illnesses including hepatitis and lung carcinoma. In fact, the studies had observed the sharp decline in food borne and water borne diseases in countries who had implemented trash recycling rules and regulations.

The second motive to favor this narrative is that recycling will also lead to the development of more local products which will be beneficial for the country's economy as well. Additionally, the people can utilize recycled output material to synthesize new plastic bottles, shirts, and other essential equipment, on a low cost.

To evolve this system, regularity authorities should introduce laws and plans to attract people more towards recycling their rubbish. The Government can install recycling plants at the corner of each road which will also assist the people and reduce the commuting cost. In addition to this, companies should encourage their production units to enhance use of the recycled materials. The majority of the countries who had focused on the use of recycled ash as input material had experienced the more profit with almost almost similar quality product. Although, recycled inputs have some drawbacks regarding the quality of product, their ecofriendly nature have outweigh them.

Overall, trash recycling is essential for maintaining the health of the environment. as far as i concern, major issues related to healthcare arise due to the contamination and less recycling rate. Although recycled inputs are not as better as natural but they can be ignored while considering the benefits of recycled raw materials.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response successfully addresses both parts of the prompt, discussing the reasons why people do not recycle as much as they could and suggesting viable solutions. The position is clear throughout the essay. The ideas are generally well developed, such as linking reduced recycling to environmental pollution and subsequent health issues, and proposing the installation of recycling plants and government regulations. However, some arguments in the body paragraphs tend to wander slightly into peripheral topics, such as the economic benefit of local products, which slightly distracts from the core issue of rubbish recycling. Nevertheless, the main task requirements are met effectively, aligning well with the Band 6.5 or 7 descriptor criteria where all parts of the task are addressed and supported.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay displays a clear logical organization with an introduction, well-defined body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate reasons from solutions. Cohesive devices are utilized to connect ideas, such as 'The primary reason', 'The second motive', and 'To evolve this system'. However, some cohesive links and referencing feel slightly mechanical or awkward, as seen in phrases like 'To evolve this system' instead of standard transitions like 'To address this issue'. Additionally, the concluding paragraph repeats ideas from earlier sections rather than effectively synthesizing them. Overall, the essay shows a coherent overall arrangement that places it comfortably at Band 6.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully incorporating terms such as 'hazardous consequences', 'contaminants', 'ecosystem', and 'ecofriendly nature'. There are, however, several lexical inaccuracies and awkward collocations throughout the text, including 'lead to reduce', 'less recycling rate' instead of 'lower recycling rate', 'on a low cost' instead of 'at a low cost', and 'experienced the more profit'. Spelling is generally accurate, but some word choices betray a lack of precision. Because the vocabulary is sufficient to communicate meaning adequately despite these recurring inaccuracies, the performance fits the Band 6 descriptors.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The response contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, demonstrating attempts at subordination and relative clauses, such as in 'The Government can install recycling plants at the corner of each road which will also assist...'. However, there are numerous grammatical errors throughout, particularly with articles ('on environment', 'at the corner of each road'), prepositions, and verb tenses ('the studies had observed', 'countries who had implemented', 'have outweigh them'). Furthermore, the final paragraph contains sentence fragment issues and punctuation errors ('environment. as far as i concern'). These errors occur frequently but rarely impede overall communication, placing the grammar score solidly at Band 6.

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.