Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Academic Practice Accelerator · 2026-10-16

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)

Lower recycling rates can be because of poor infrastructure of waste, lack of public awareness and daily inconvenience of sorting materials. To get rid of this, one should implement the public awareness and improve waste infrastructure and recycle the waste.

Firstly, people do not recycle their waste due to various reasons like inconvenient infrastructure, lack of awareness and knowledge, time and effort and weak policies/incentives. Making people aware of recycling waste can be done through campaigns as it will not only help in saving the environment but also get rid of the waste materials and make good use of it. For instance, the waste form kitchen can be put into the soil in order to get the nutritions to the soil and help in growing the plants more healthily. In this way, the waste materials will get recycled and put into good use.

To change this, infrastructure needs to be improved, educating the public about various usages of waste materials in a better way, introducing new rules and rewards and encouraging the facilities about the same. For example, if there are new rules and rewards introduced to improve the waste materials usage, people will try out their luck and recycle it in order to get the reward for the same.

In conclusion, it is better for the people to recycle their waste materials as it will help in benefitting the environment and also improve the recycling rates. It motivates the people to recycle their waste materials and improve the quality of environment.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You address both parts of the question: you identify causes such as “lack of public awareness,” inconvenience and weak incentives, and suggest campaigns, improved infrastructure, rules and rewards. The kitchen-waste example also gives a relevant illustration of recycling’s benefits. However, the causes and solutions are mostly listed rather than explained in depth. For instance, you do not clarify how poor infrastructure makes recycling difficult, or how rewards would be organised and encourage lasting behaviour. The conclusion repeats the environmental benefit but does not add a developed final point. To strengthen the response, explain the link between each main cause and a practical solution, and support one or two ideas with more specific detail.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure, with an introduction, two body paragraphs and a conclusion. “Firstly,” “For instance” and “In conclusion” help signal the stages of the argument, and the reader can generally follow the main points. However, progression within the body paragraphs is sometimes mechanical: several causes and proposed actions are grouped together without clear prioritisation or explanation. The phrase “To change this” introduces solutions, but the paragraph combines infrastructure, education, rules and encouragement without showing how these ideas connect. Some references, such as “the same” and “it,” are also unclear. Organise each paragraph around a central point, then explain and illustrate it, using more precise links between ideas.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use relevant topic vocabulary, including “recycling rates,” “infrastructure,” “public awareness,” “campaigns” and “incentives,” so the subject is clear. However, the range is limited and several phrases are repeated, particularly “waste materials” and “recycle.” Some word choices or collocations are unnatural, such as “infrastructure of waste,” “get rid of this,” “nutritions to the soil” and “encouraging the facilities.” These expressions can make parts of the response less clear or precise. Aim to use more natural combinations and vary key terms—for example, distinguish between household waste, recyclable materials and organic waste. Check word forms and spelling as well, including “form” where you mean “from.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt a mixture of simple and complex sentences, including clauses with “as” and “in order to,” and most of the main ideas remain understandable. However, control is uneven, especially in longer sentences and constructions with several actions. For example, “To get rid of this, one should implement the public awareness and improve waste infrastructure and recycle the waste” has an awkwardly coordinated series of verbs and an unclear reference in “this.” In “the waste form kitchen can be put into the soil,” the article and sentence construction need attention. There are also issues with agreement and sentence boundaries in places. Practise building clear sentences with one main claim and a correctly formed supporting clause, then check articles, verb forms and punctuation.

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