Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · 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 6.5)

In most of the countries, waste recycling is not widely adopted. This is because, many families have working adults, where no one is free to put some additional work in recycling. In order to change this behaviour, governments should opt for punishment and reward scheme, which rewards good practices and penalizes bad practices.

Many familes, particularly developed coutries, have working adults. Therefore, they would not be paticularly interested in following good practices, even if they are aware of the benefits of practicing sustainable development. For example, a study found out that people often throw newspaper in waste, despite knowing that it can be recycled by giving it to newspaper-collectors. People know that even if they spend their time on taking the newspaper to those collectors, they would recieve less money compared to spending that time doing overtime on their jobs.

Strict regulations which punishes bad practices and recognizes good practices should be implemented. Governments should make laws pertaining the ratio of recyclable material getting re-used in every household. Additionally, a hefty fine should be imposed on those who do not follow these laws. To illustrate, Singapore and Japan are considered two of the most cleanliest countries in the world since they have dedicated dustbins for reusable and non-reusable items on every street. Furthermore, if the advantages of following these practices, rewards such as financial incentives and gifts, outweigh the disadvatages, like a fine, citizens would prefer the former.

In conclusion, a well deserved punishment or a reward would make sure that people adopt to recycling practices irrespective of their financial status.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

You address both parts of the question: you suggest that busy working adults have little time to recycle, then propose penalties and rewards. The newspaper example helps explain why convenience and financial priorities can discourage recycling, and the final paragraph maintains a clear position. This meets the task well overall, but some ideas are less fully developed than others. In particular, the claim that working adults are not interested in recycling is broad, and the Singapore and Japan example refers mainly to cleanliness and street bins rather than showing how regulations or incentives increase recycling. Explain more directly how your proposed measures would change household behaviour, and support the examples with a clearer link to the question.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response has a clear overall structure: an introduction, a paragraph explaining a cause, a paragraph proposing measures, and a conclusion. Sequencing words such as “Therefore,” “Additionally,” and “Furthermore” help signal the relationships between ideas, and the main line of argument is easy to follow. Some connections, however, are mechanical or not fully clear. For example, the sentence beginning “Furthermore, if the advantages…” is difficult to follow because the comparison between rewards and disadvantages is not expressed cleanly. The Singapore and Japan example also shifts from recycling incentives to general cleanliness without a clear transition. Use more precise referencing and make each example explicitly support the point in its paragraph.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range of topic vocabulary, including “sustainable development,” “recyclable material,” “financial incentives,” and “dedicated dustbins.” These choices show an attempt to discuss the issue beyond basic terms, and the meaning is generally clear. However, some word choices and collocations are inaccurate or awkward, such as “put some additional work in recycling,” “laws pertaining the ratio,” and “adopt to recycling practices.” Spelling errors, including “familes,” “coutries,” “paticularly,” and “disadvatages,” also reduce accuracy. Aim for natural combinations such as “make an additional effort to recycle” and “laws governing the proportion of recyclable waste reused,” and proofread carefully for spelling and word forms.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, including cause-and-effect clauses and conditional structures, as in “if the advantages… outweigh the disadvantages.” Most sentences communicate the intended meaning, but some grammatical errors remain. For example, “This is because, many families…” has incorrect punctuation after “because,” while “Strict regulations which punishes” has a subject–verb agreement error. There are also problems with articles and prepositions in “pertaining the ratio” and “adopt to recycling practices.” The long sentence about rewards and fines is difficult to parse, so divide it or make its clause relationships clearer. More consistent control of agreement, articles, and sentence boundaries would improve accuracy.

See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.

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