Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · IELTS Academic Practice Accelerator · 2026-10-01

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 5.0)

In many countries, people do not recycle their rubbish as much as they could because of several reasons. In this essay, we will discuss all the relevant details about this topic.

In my opinion, recycling rubbish in a country is a job of the government. If the government does not take this thing seriously, then the people will also not make recycling of rubbish their priority.

The lack of government willingness and lack of rules and regulation are the main reasons in many countries people do not recycle their rubbish and throw it in the dumpsters.

I will explain this through an example: in China the electricity is made from the recycling of their garbage, and they fine citizens who violate the garbage law. That's why China is a very clean country, and people recycle the rubbish and reuse their products.

People do not recycle their rubbish because they do not have the plant to do that. They can only give it to the government so they can recycle it and make it beneficial for the country.

Recycling the rubbish has many advantages, like it cleans the streets, houses, and societies, which ultimately cleans the whole country. Number two, it cleans the environment and makes it more breathable, which is a very healthy thing for a human body.

I would also like to discuss the disadvantage of not recycling the rubbish. If you do not recycle the rubbish, then you have to dump it somewhere, which would create air pollution, which is very harmful to the human body.

In the conclusion, I will put my thoughts in the way that governments need to take this problem seriously and make strict rules for this and recycle the rubbish.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

The response addresses the main parts of the prompt by discussing why people do not recycle and suggesting government action, but the ideas remain limited and under-developed. For example, the student mentions that 'people do not have the plant to do that' and briefly notes advantages like cleaning the streets and environment, but these points lack extension and clear supporting evidence. The position is stated, such as 'recycling rubbish in a country is a job of the government,' but it is not fully sustained or explored in depth throughout the essay. To move to a higher level, the writer needs to expand on their arguments with more detailed explanations and relevant, fully realized examples rather than relying on brief, generalized assertions.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The essay displays some organization with a recognizable introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion, but there is no clear overall progression of ideas. Paragraphing is attempted, but many paragraphs consist of only one or two short sentences, such as 'I will explain this through an example...' which disrupts the logical flow of the text. Cohesive devices are used in a very mechanical and repetitive way, notably the over-use of formulas like 'I will explain this through an example' and 'Number two'. Referencing is also occasionally unclear. To improve, the writer should group related ideas into well-developed paragraphs and use a wider variety of cohesive links naturally to guide the reader smoothly from one point to the next.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is limited but minimally adequate to communicate the basic message. The writer relies heavily on simple and repetitive terms, such as 'rubbish,' 'garbage,' 'clean,' and 'country.' There are noticeable lexical errors and awkward word choices that can cause some difficulty for the reader, such as 'take this thing seriously,' 'have the plant to do that,' and phrasing like 'make my thoughts in the way that.' Less common lexical items are attempted with varying degrees of success. To achieve a higher score, the writer needs to expand their range of vocabulary, use more precise collocations, and avoid repetitive phrasing by incorporating more sophisticated synonyms.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The writing demonstrates a limited range of sentence structures, relying primarily on simple sentences and basic coordination. When the writer attempts more complex structures, such as conditional clauses in 'If the government does not take this thing seriously, then the people will also not make recycling of rubbish their priority,' they are handled with mixed accuracy. There are frequent errors in grammar, including missing or incorrect articles ('the electricity,' 'a very healthy thing'), preposition errors ('in China the electricity is made from...'), and awkward phrasing that causes occasional difficulty for the reader. To improve, the writer should practice incorporating a greater variety of complex sentence forms while maintaining tighter control over basic grammatical rules.

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