Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.0 · IELTS Academic Practice Accelerator · 2026-10-06
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)
The recycling of litter is not as efficient as it should be in a number of countries. I believe that lack of awareness and illateracy are the major factors contributing to this, which can be solved by governmental strictness, policies and general literacy of its environmental impacts at primary school.
The primary cause of throwing garbage without any regards is the unawareness among general public. Most of the individuals we come across in our everyday life have no idea about the damage unhygenic practices can create for the environment, they look at their convinience of throwing rubbish whichever place is feasible for them. For instance, a person will not prefer going all the way to dustbin unless
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 4.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.0
The response only minimally addresses the task due to a severe underlength issue. The candidate manages to identify causes such as lack of awareness and proposes solutions like governmental policies and school education, fulfilling the prompt's requirements in a basic sense. However, the essay is cut off mid-sentence at 117 words, which falls significantly short of the 250-word minimum requirement. Consequently, the ideas are presented in a very truncated manner without adequate extension or supporting details. To improve, the writer must ensure they meet the minimum word count and fully develop each body paragraph with specific examples and deeper explanations of both the causes and corresponding solutions.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0
There is some basic organization present, with an introductory sentence outlining the structure and an attempt to start a body paragraph addressing the causes. However, the essay lacks clear overall progression because it is incomplete and breaks off abruptly. Cohesive devices are minimal, and referencing is sometimes unclear, such as the pronoun use in 'policies and general literacy of its environmental impacts'. Paragraphing is initiated, but the unfinished nature of the text prevents a fully coherent progression of ideas. To reach a higher band, the writer needs to ensure complete paragraphs that logically link causes to effects, utilizing a wider and more accurate range of cohesive devices to guide the reader smoothly through the argument.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.5
The vocabulary used is minimally adequate for the task, attempting some less common words and topic-related terms like 'efficiency', 'unhygenic practices', and 'convinience'. However, there are noticeable lexical errors, including the spelling mistake 'illateracy' and 'convinience', as well as collocation inaccuracies such as 'throwing garbage without any regards'. These noticeable errors cause some difficulty for the reader and reflect a limited lexical range. To improve, the writer should focus on correct spelling, precise word choices, and natural collocations, avoiding frequent slips when attempting more sophisticated or subject-specific vocabulary.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5
The writer demonstrates a limited range of sentence structures, attempting complex sentences that unfortunately contain noticeable errors and awkward phrasing, such as 'which can be solved by governmental strictness, policies and general literacy of its environmental impacts'. There are frequent errors in prepositions, noun-modifier patterns, and agreement, including 'throwing rubbish whichever place is feasible' and 'unawareness among general public'. These frequent errors can cause difficulty for the reader. To achieve a higher score, the writer needs to produce a greater proportion of error-free sentences, improve grammatical accuracy in complex structures, and pay closer attention to articles and prepositions.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
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