Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Academic Practice Accelerator · 2026-10-12

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)

People do noy recycle their rubbish as much in many countries around the world,leading to a serious problem of pollution,it is one of the most grievous problems in the modern era since it is causing harm to the ecosystem and is also causing rise in temperatures due to global warming.

Currently,in many metropolitan cities,pollution has been on the rise and its impacts has also been very visible,animals getting extinct due to rubbish not getting disposed properly,people in cities mindlessly use plastic every single day without thinking about its impact,and very less resort to sustainable ways.

This causes people to get sick,depletion of natural resources,natural disasters due to global warming and many countless issues.

Alot of initiatives can be taken from our side,even a small step leads to a bigger impact,few things which can be implemented to change this would be,firstly to make people aware about pollution especially its negative impacts,since awareness is key to action,secondly,governments can take initiative to dispose industrial rubbish in a manner which would not impact creatures of the ecosystem and is sustainable and last and not the least,organize clean up drives all over the cities,the best thing would be to ban plastic,come up with sustainable and reusable resources which would be environmentally friendly.

The best example would be the ban of plastic bags in the UAE,which led to people bringing their own reusable bags and reduced dependence on plastic polythene bags which were harmful for the environment.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You address both questions by identifying possible consequences of poor recycling and proposing awareness campaigns, better industrial-waste disposal, clean-up drives, and restrictions on plastic. The UAE example also gives the response a relevant real-world illustration. However, the reasons people fail to recycle are not clearly explained: the discussion mainly describes pollution’s effects rather than causes such as limited facilities, inconvenience, or lack of incentives. Several proposed actions are listed but not developed, and the response ends without a clear concluding summary. The response is 9 words below the required minimum, so it does not meet the task’s length requirement. Develop the causes directly and explain how each proposed measure would increase recycling.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable overall structure: it introduces the issue, describes its effects, presents possible actions, and gives an example. This makes the main direction understandable. However, the progression is not consistently focused on the two questions, since the second and third paragraphs largely list consequences rather than explain why people do not recycle. The long final paragraph combines several separate recommendations, making their relationships difficult to follow. Linking phrases such as “firstly” and “secondly” help organise the list, but some transitions are mechanical, and the opening sentence joins several ideas with commas. Use separate paragraphs for causes and solutions, and connect each point explicitly to the question.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range of topic-related vocabulary, including “ecosystem,” “depletion of natural resources,” “sustainable,” and “reusable,” which helps communicate the environmental theme. There are also attempts at more formal phrasing, such as “negative impacts” and “dependence on plastic.” However, some choices are imprecise or unnatural: “very less resort to sustainable ways” and “sustainable and reusable resources” do not express the intended ideas clearly. “Grievous problems” is also an awkward collocation in this context, and “noy” is a spelling error. Aim for precise expressions such as “few people adopt sustainable practices” and “reusable alternatives”; proofreading will help remove spelling slips.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, including a reason clause with “since” and a relative clause in “bags … which were harmful for the environment.” The main ideas are generally understandable, but some errors in sentence boundaries, agreement, and sentence construction reduce accuracy. For example, the opening is a run-on sentence joined by commas, while “its impacts has” has a subject–verb agreement error. The fragment-like sequence “animals getting extinct …, people …” also needs a complete grammatical structure. Use full stops to separate complete ideas, check singular and plural agreement, and build lists with parallel forms. These changes would make your varied sentence attempts clearer and more controlled.

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.