Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Academic Practice Accelerator · 2026-09-22

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)

Recycling is becoming an integral part of our contemporary society to reduce pollution; however, some people neglect recycling their rubbish due to their self-irresponsibilities or less strict government control of recycling. In order to enhance people's prospects in classifying their trash, both government intervention and individual consciousness are needed, such as knowing the outcomes of not recycling.

There are several reasons behind why citizens do not reprocess trash. Firstly, some countries implement fewer laws on recycling, leading people to put their unnecessary products anywhere in the environment without classifying them into the trash can. For instance, Japan, which is one of the highly developed countries, has strict rules of recycling, where Japan's regulators charge a significant amount of money to those who did not comply with the laws.

Secondly, even though countries implement policies to recycle rubbish, people may not reflect on the drawbacks of throwing their trash into the environment. For example, although the government of Mongolia allocated 20% of its tax revenue to increase access to recycling bins by locating 20,000 garbage cans in specific spots, the populace still did not follow the rules.

However, there are numerous ways to solve these issues with the involvement of stricter government laws and educational systems about being environmentally responsible. In such circumstances in Mongolia, authorities should charge a greater amount of money to those who did not throw their rubbish into bins by increasing the surveillance systems. If they still do not follow the rules, army forces should put them into prison in order to influence their surroundings. Moreover, top hier positions should encourage TV and media platforms to enhance people's knowledge about recycling. These can include introducing interesting podcasts, videos, or talk shows about recycling.

In conclusion, recycling is playing an important role in shaping our society to a greener environment. However, some may not have the chance to recycle their rubbish because of less self-consciousness and fewer government regulations. In order to change this situation, regulators should implement stricter rules for those who did not classify their rubbish and direct media industries to innovate talk shows and videos about reprocessing trash.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response addresses all parts of the task by identifying causes for low recycling rates and proposing solutions. Your position is clear throughout the essay. The ideas are relevant, though some arguments could be extended further. For instance, your first main body paragraph mentions Japan's strict rules, but the explanation focuses solely on penalties rather than how they shape societal habits. Similarly, your suggestion involving 'army forces should put them into prison' is somewhat extreme and lacks realism, which slightly weakens the task response development. However, overall you covered both the 'why' and the 'what can be done' adequately, fulfilling the Band 6 descriptor criteria well.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

Your essay has a clear overall arrangement with an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Cohesive devices such as 'Firstly', 'Secondly', 'However', and 'In conclusion' are used to structure the text, although some transitions feel a bit mechanical. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate causes from solutions. Referencing is mostly clear, though occasional awkward phrasing in transitions, such as 'In such circumstances in Mongolia', slightly affects the smooth flow of information. Progression is evident, but cohesion can occasionally be improved for better logical connection between sentences.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting less common items such as 'contemporary society', 'surveillance systems', and 'environmentally responsible'. However, there are noticeable inaccuracies in word choice and collocations, such as 'self-irresponsibilities', 'prospects in classifying', and 'top hier positions'. Some of these lexical choices sound unnatural or awkward, which restricts your score to a Band 6. Nevertheless, your vocabulary is sufficient to communicate your ideas clearly without causing severe misunderstanding for the reader.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, incorporating conditional structures ('If they still do not follow...') and subordinate clauses ('even though countries implement policies...'). However, there are several grammatical errors and awkward structures throughout the text, such as 'those who did not comply' (tense consistency issues), 'behind why citizens' (redundancy), and prepositions in phrases like 'less strict government control of recycling'. These errors occur regularly, but they rarely impede communication, placing your grammatical performance firmly at a Band 6 level.

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