Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Academic Practice Accelerator · 2026-09-20
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 countries, people do not recycle their rubbish as much as they could which can have negative impact on environment.In this essay, we will discuss the main reason and give possible solution.
One major reason is that many people are not sufficiently aware of the environmental benefits of recycling.They do not try to keep their envirnment clean for them and others.Another reason is laziness people become lazy in these situation of recycling their rubbish.They will do everything in the whole but when it is time recycle their rubbish they become lazy.In addition,recycling facilities are not properly available in many areas making it difficult for people to recycle their rubbish.
There are several ways to encourage people to recycle more.Government should run recycling compaign through social media and banners.This will aware people about recycling and they will try to recycle their rubbish as much they can.Secondly, more recycling facilities and bins should be provided in every area.This will make recycling more convenient for people.Finally, government could offer incentives or introduce fines.This will make people recycle properly otherwise they have to pay a fine.
In conclusion, people recycle less because of a lack of awareness, limited recycling facilities and the inconvenience of sorting waste. However, this problem can be reduced by increasing public awareness and providing better recycling facilities, along with suitable incentives or penalties.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0
The response addresses both parts of the task by identifying reasons for low recycling rates, such as lack of awareness and inadequate facilities, and offering solutions like campaigns, incentives, and better bins. However, the length requirement has not been met, as the essay contains 224 words, falling short of the 250-word minimum. This under-length impacts the level of development and extension required for higher bands. While the ideas are relevant, they remain somewhat generalized and brief. For example, the mention of laziness is underdeveloped and lacks sufficient explanation. Consequently, the task response is limited by the word count restriction, placing it firmly at the lower end of the marking scale.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The essay displays a clear overall structure with an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate reasons from solutions. Cohesive devices are employed to link ideas, such as "One major reason", "Another reason", "In addition", and "Finally". However, referencing and transitions can be a bit mechanical or repetitive at times, as seen in the opening of consecutive sentences like "They do not try..." and "They will do everything...". Progression is generally clear, but the logical flow between sentences occasionally feels abrupt due to the brevity of the explanations. Overall, the organizational structure is functional and demonstrates adequate coherence for this level.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully using topic-specific terms such as "environmental benefits", "recycling facilities", "public awareness", and "incentives or penalties". However, there are notable word choice and collocation issues throughout the text. For instance, the phrase "when it is time recycle their rubbish" misses a preposition, and "recycing compaign" contains a spelling error. The writer attempts less common vocabulary, but precision is lacking, and some expressions feel repetitive, such as the frequent repetition of "recycle their rubbish". Despite these limitations, the vocabulary is sufficient to convey the intended meaning without severely impeding communication.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, incorporating conditional structures and modal verbs like "should run" and "could offer". However, there are frequent grammatical errors and punctuation omissions that detract from the overall accuracy. Examples include missing articles (“have negative impact on environment” instead of "a negative impact on the environment"), missing prepositions (“time recycle” instead of "time to recycle"), and subject-verb agreement or word form issues (“This will aware people” instead of "This will raise awareness among people" or "make people aware"). Run-on sentences and punctuation slips also occur, such as lacking spaces after periods in the opening paragraph. These errors require some effort from the reader to interpret certain sentences.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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