Band 4.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.0 · IELTS Academic Practice Accelerator · 2026-10-27

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 4.0)

In my point of view it is yes people of many countries do not do rubbish as much as required to do . It is because of such lack of responsibility of my self or government duties means there is government is fail to mange their responabilty . Poor lack of instruction and lacks of government polices and lack of time to manage duties . in thinks respones of myself is very in important to do recycle their rubbish

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 3.0

You identify a relevant general cause—weak responsibility or government action—and mention poor instruction and policies. However, the response only minimally addresses the question: it does not clearly explain why people fail to recycle, and it gives no specific measures for changing their behaviour. The final statement that recycling is important does not develop either part of the task. The ideas are also difficult to interpret, for example, “lack of responsibility of my self or government duties.” The response is 79 words, so it does not meet the required minimum of 250 words; this leaves too little space to explain and support your points. To improve, state a clear position, answer both questions directly, and develop each point with an explanation and a relevant example.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 3.5

There is a basic attempt to connect ideas: you begin with a general view, then refer to possible causes such as government responsibility, instruction and policies. This gives the reader a rough sense of your topic. However, the response is presented as one short, largely unstructured sequence, with no clear progression from causes to solutions. The repeated use of “lack” does not show how the points relate, and phrases such as “It is because of such lack of responsibility” are hard to follow. Organise the response into paragraphs, with one focused on reasons and another on practical changes. Use clear links such as “One reason is…” and “To address this…” and make sure each sentence develops the point before moving on.

Lexical Resource: Band 4.5

You use some vocabulary relevant to the topic, including “recycle,” “rubbish,” “responsibility,” “instruction” and “policies,” so the subject is recognisable. However, the range is narrow and several phrases are inaccurate or repetitive, which makes your meaning unclear. For example, “do rubbish” does not express the intended action, while “Poor lack of instruction” combines words unnaturally. There are also spelling errors in “mange,” “responabilty” and “polices.” Aim to use precise topic phrases such as “sort household waste,” “recycling facilities” and “public awareness campaigns.” Check spelling and collocations, and avoid repeating “lack” when you can explain the specific problem.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.5

The response attempts to express reasons using simple linking structures, such as “It is because…” and “means there is…,” but sentence control is inconsistent. Several clauses are incomplete or joined in ways that obscure their relationships, as in “Poor lack of instruction and lacks of government polices and lack of time to manage duties.” The sentence “there is government is fail” also shows problems with clause structure and verb form. Punctuation and spacing are inconsistent, and the response offers little evidence of a wider range of sentence patterns. Practise writing complete subject–verb sentences first, then combine related ideas with accurate conjunctions. For example: “People may not recycle because they lack clear instructions, while local authorities may provide too few collection points.”

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

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