Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Academic Practice Accelerator · 2026-11-03

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)

In many countries people are playing a vital role in recycling their goods, while in some countries people are not participating in recycling materials.In countries where people are not serious about recycling are going to face probelms in the future.

People are not paying attention on the problems that are being caused due to the rubbish and they are not doing any activities to recycle the things. We live in digital age and every one knows about the pros and cons of recycling things. They know that rubbish is playing a huge role in the environmental pollution and bottlenecks humans and animals are facing due to the waste materials. For instance animals living in oceans are facing problems due to the waste material that we throw in the oceans. If we talk about why they don't pay attention to this seriousness is because they think its not an individual's duty to solve environmental issues and government must solve this probelm alone.Another reason is they go for cheaper things for instance plastic bags and they don't want to spend their money on eco-friendly bags because they are expensive.

On the other hand, there are some people in the same countries playing a vital role in recycling goods. Government must introduced laws and rules to recycle things and people have to follow these rules and laws at any cost. Peolpe who are playing a significant role in recycling needs to communicate with other people who are not serious anout the issue and must work together on this issue.Recycling machines must introduced in the public areas for instance, parks and malls etc. Camps must be held once a month or after few months in the reions where waste material is found to educate people about environment.

In conclusion, every individual needs to understand the importance of recycling and its benefits. Government on the other hand, needs to pay strict actions angainst the areas where they find people are not recycling things. Eco-friendly goods must introduced in the countires like edible straw, boxes,trays and tea cups.Plastic bags needs to be ban in the whole country to avoid pollution in the oceans.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You address both parts of the question: you suggest that people see recycling as the government’s responsibility and choose cheaper plastic products, then propose laws, public recycling machines, education camps and restrictions on plastic bags. These are relevant ideas, and the ocean-wildlife example helps illustrate the effects of waste. However, the response only partly develops its explanations. For example, it does not explain why people may consider recycling inconvenient or how the proposed laws and machines would change everyday behaviour. The opening also says that people in many countries play a vital role in recycling, which sits awkwardly beside the problem described in the prompt and is not clarified. Develop fewer points with clearer cause-and-effect reasoning and specific examples.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable overall arrangement: an introduction, a paragraph on causes, a paragraph on solutions and a conclusion. This gives the reader a basic route through the answer. However, progression within paragraphs is sometimes unclear, and linking is often mechanical or inaccurate. For instance, “On the other hand” suggests a contrast, but the next paragraph moves to solutions rather than presenting an opposing view. The opening sentence also contrasts countries where recycling is common with those where it is not, but the relationship to the task is not clearly established. Some ideas run together without clear sentence boundaries. Use topic sentences that state each paragraph’s purpose, group related points, and use transitions only when their logical relationship is accurate.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant topic vocabulary, including “environmental pollution,” “waste materials,” “eco-friendly bags” and “recycling machines,” so the main subject is clear. There are also attempts at more formal phrasing, such as “significant role” and “individual’s duty.” However, the range is limited by repeated wording such as “people,” “recycling” and “things,” and several choices or collocations are inaccurate: “paying attention on,” “pay strict actions” and “playing a vital role in recycling their goods” do not sound natural in context. Spelling errors such as “probelms,” “Peolpe” and “countires” are noticeable. Build precision by learning common collocations for causes and solutions, and proofread spelling and word forms.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentences, including clauses with “because” and “who,” and the reader can generally understand your main points. However, complex structures are often faulty, and errors occur frequently enough to make some sentences difficult to follow. Examples include “In countries where people are not serious about recycling are going to face problems,” which lacks a clear grammatical subject, and “Government must introduced laws,” where the verb form is incorrect. There are also problems with agreement and sentence boundaries, as in “Plastic bags needs to be ban,” and several sentences join ideas without appropriate punctuation. Practise forming complete clauses, matching subjects and verbs, and using the correct verb form after modal verbs such as “must.”

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

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