Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Academic Practice Accelerator · 2026-10-05

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. This is mainly because of lack of awareness and convenient recycling facilities. However, government and individuals have to take action to encourage people to recycle more.

One major reason, for the low recycle rate is that many people are not fully aware of the environmental consequences of throwing rubbish away. They may not consider recycled thier rubbish beneficial for the environment and country there are no seperate bins for neighbours. In addition, some people do not know that the which material can be used and recycled and how they should be separated. For example, people may put plastic bottles, food waste and other rubbish in the same bin because they have not been properly informed about recycled.

Moreover, there are the several ways to improve this situation. Firstly, government should take action and provide bins in all streets and also employ employees to collect rubbish from people's homes and throw it to garbage truck. This would be easier and more convenient for everyone. Secondly, Schools and universities should teach their students about the importance of recycling.. For instance, comgains could exlpain the reduce the waste sent to landfills and save natural resources. Finally, government could introduce reward for household who are doing best thing for their cities and countries.

In conclusion, people often less because they lack of awareness and do not have convenient facilities.

Providing accessible recycled bins, increasing public education and introducing suitable incentives could encourage people to recycle more help protect the environment.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

It must first be noted that the length requirement is not met: the student's response contains 246 words, which is 4 words short of the 250-word minimum (furthermore, 14 words copied from the task prompt were not counted). Regarding the task content, the response addresses all parts of the prompt by discussing both the reasons for a lack of recycling and potential solutions, such as providing better facilities and public education. However, the ideas remain somewhat limited and under-developed. For instance, the explanation of why people do not recycle is rather repetitive and lacks extension, and the discussion on solutions moves quickly between points without fully elaborating on how these measures would effectively change behaviour. Consequently, the position is not always clear or fully sustained throughout the essay, reflecting a partial treatment of the task.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The essay displays some overall organisation with a clear attempt to divide the response into an introduction, body paragraphs addressing causes and solutions, and a conclusion. There is a discernible logical arrangement, using basic cohesive devices such as 'Firstly', 'Secondly', 'In addition', and 'In conclusion' to guide the reader through the text. However, cohesion is at times faulty or mechanical, and referencing is not always clear, as seen in awkward transitions like 'Moreover, there are the several ways to improve this situation.' Paragraphing is used, but the overall progression of ideas lacks seamless flow, placing the response firmly in the middle band for this criterion where basic structural elements are present but management of cohesive devices remains inconsistent.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is limited but minimally adequate for the task. The writer attempts to incorporate topic-related terminology such as 'environmental consequences', 'landfills', and 'natural resources', but this is offset by noticeable errors in word choice, form, and spelling that cause some difficulty for the reader. Examples of these lexical slips include 'recycled thier rubbish' instead of 'recycling their rubbish', 'low recycle rate' instead of 'low recycling rate', 'comgains' instead of 'campaigns', and 'exlpain the reduce' instead of 'explain to reduce'. These frequent inaccuracies show that while the writer has a sufficient basic vocabulary to express simple ideas, control over less common lexical items and word forms is weak.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response demonstrates a limited range of structures, relying mostly on simple sentences alongside some attempts at complex forms that are frequently faulty. There are recurrent errors in grammar and punctuation, particularly involving articles, plurals, and prepositions inside grammatical patterns, such as 'because of lack of awareness' missing the article 'a', and 'household who are doing best thing' which contains agreement and superlative errors. Additionally, awkward phrasing like 'people often less because they lack of awareness' creates confusion. These frequent errors in basic and attempted complex structures can cause occasional difficulty and strain for the reader, preventing the text from reaching a higher band.

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.