Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 6.5 · IELTS Academic Practice Accelerator · 2026-10-21
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)
It is a fact that people from many countries are often reluctant to reuse day to day items after its primary usage. This happens mostly because of the lack of awareness and because recycling points are not easily accessible to the general public. Changes will follow if the government steps in to raise awareness and companies introduce incentives while providing easy ways to salvage trash.
A lack of awareness among the community compounded with the extra burden that comes with the act of recycling are the main reasons for avoiding the process all together. The common people are rarely taught about sustainability and the adverse effects of one-time-use items on the environment. Even if some posess limited knowledge regarding this, the process of repurposing after using these items is very complicated to follow. In Bangladesh, the regular trash-taking sytem has no way to seperate salvagable trash and biodegradable trash. So the public have to travel to dedicated recycling points in the city if they want to use these facilities. These are the main reasons why people don't usually care about recycling in their regular lives.
However, some help from the government and certain incentives can turn things around. The local government bodies of each community can arrange small scale campaigns to raise awareness among the people. Additionally, different manufacturing companies can also put out incentives for the public to bring back their trash in return of certain goods, coupons or even money. In 2024, a bottled water company in Bangladesh collaborated with the govenrment to run a campaign for collecting trash where individuals received one discount coupon in exchange for a kilogram of plastic trash. Simple efforts like these greatly contribute to the rise in recycling efforts by the public.
In conclusion, while there aren't many people who recycle their trash at present to avoid extra hard work, the authorities and organizations can save the art of upcycling by taking simple steps to incentivize the public.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 7.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 6.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 6.5 |
| Overall | 6.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.0
The response addresses both parts of the question and maintains a clear position: low awareness and inconvenient recycling access are identified as causes, while campaigns and incentives are proposed as solutions. The Bangladesh example of exchanging plastic for a discount coupon gives the recommendations relevant support. The explanation of access is more fully developed than the awareness point, which would benefit from a specific account of how limited knowledge affects people’s choices. The conclusion also introduces “upcycling,” although the essay has focused mainly on recycling, so it does not quite summarise the argument precisely. Overall, the ideas are relevant and extended, but a little more precise development and consistency would strengthen the response.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5
The essay has a clear overall structure: an introduction presents the causes and solutions, separate body paragraphs develop each, and a conclusion closes the discussion. Ideas generally progress logically, and linking expressions such as “Additionally” and “However” help signal relationships. Some connections are less smooth or precise, however. For example, “These are the main reasons” follows several details but could more clearly distinguish the two causes, and “while there aren't many people who recycle … to avoid extra hard work” makes the conclusion’s relationship between low participation and effort somewhat awkward. The repeated use of “recycling” and “trash” also makes cohesion feel a little mechanical. More varied referencing and clearer links between claims and examples would improve flow.
Lexical Resource: Band 6.0
The response uses an adequate range of topic vocabulary, including “sustainability,” “adverse effects,” “dedicated recycling points,” and “incentives.” These choices communicate the main ideas, and the example is described with relevant terms. However, some less common expressions are inaccurate or unnatural: “reuse day to day items after its primary usage,” “the process all together,” and “save the art of upcycling” do not express the intended meaning naturally. There are also spelling errors such as “posess,” “sytem,” “seperate,” “salvagable,” and “govenrment.” These do not prevent understanding, but they reduce precision and control. Aim for accurate collocations and proofread spelling, especially in key topic words.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.5
There is a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, including the conditional “Changes will follow if the government steps in” and the sentence beginning “Even if some possess limited knowledge.” Most ideas remain clear, and punctuation generally supports the meaning. Some grammatical errors persist, particularly with agreement and sentence construction. In “after its primary usage,” the pronoun does not agree with plural “items”; “the public have to travel” also has inconsistent agreement in this context. The final sentence, “while there aren't many people who recycle their trash at present to avoid extra hard work,” is difficult to parse because the placement of “to avoid” obscures who is avoiding the effort. Check agreement and revise long sentences so each modifier clearly relates to the intended subject.
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