Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Momentum Workout · 2026-09-27

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

Concern for the environment is growing and more and more people are choosing to recycle. But some people suggest that recycling is not enough. They believe we need to consume less.

Discuss both these views and give your own opinion.

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge and experience.

Student answer (Band 5.5)

Recycling is a good form of reusing any product in a complete different way which has an effective benefit to the society ,but recycling is not the only solution according to many people each has its different pros and cons .It is essential to look at the advantages and the disadvantages to understand which approach is better.

According to me recycling is the best way to reuse products .It helps the environment in so many ways like recduction in pollution, reducing the use of harmful gases and not causing harm to the nature.Todays modern world in which technology is reaching at its peak where numerous ways of recycling are carried out,from bottles to clothes everything is been recycled and converted into something new and interesting . A lot of substances and material cannot be decomposed directly ,so in order to decompose them lot of practices are carried out which may cause harm to the environment.So to stop this harmul practice recycling is the best that can be done

But many people have different opinions on it .They say that recycling is not enough we need to consume less ,which is right to a cretain extent where, usage of items that cannot we recycled should be not used on a regular basis.For eg,Plastic as it takes years to decompose .So a better altervative can be used.

Coming back to our topic according to some research taken place in the year 2019 a school in India recycled used tetrapacks that were collected from students over the years which were given to factories who make benches out of these .A huge amount of packets of milk,juices were collected and recycled by factories and manufacturers .So recycling has always helped the environment.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The response addresses the prompt by discussing both recycling and consuming less, and provides a clear personal opinion. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited and uneven. While you mention the pros of recycling, such as "recduction in pollution" and give a relevant example about an Indian school recycling tetra packs into benches, the discussion on consuming less is brief and slightly underdeveloped, mentioning plastic as an example without deep exploration. To reach a higher band, the arguments for both views need to be extended more thoroughly with further elaboration and support, ensuring the comparison between recycling and consuming less is balanced throughout the body paragraphs.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with a clear introduction and conclusion. Ideas are generally linked, and transitional phrases such as "According to me," "But many people have different opinions on it," and "Coming back to our topic" are used to guide the reader. However, paragraphing is somewhat irregular; the third paragraph is very short, and the transition into the final example feels slightly abrupt. Additionally, some cohesive devices feel mechanical or conversational rather than academic. To improve, ensure each body paragraph has a clear thematic focus, and utilise a wider, more seamless variety of cohesive devices to connect your arguments smoothly.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, demonstrating an attempt to incorporate some less common items such as "decompose," "alternative," and "manufacturers." However, there are notable spelling errors and awkward collocations throughout the text, including "recduction" instead of reduction, "harmul" instead of harmful, "cretain" instead of certain, and "altervative" instead of alternative. Phrases like "reaching at its peak" are also unnatural. While these lexical errors do not completely impede communication, they restrict the lexical score. Expanding your range of precise academic vocabulary and paying closer attention to spelling and word choice will significantly elevate this area.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You demonstrate a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, attempting relative clauses and conditional structures. However, grammatical accuracy is inconsistent. There are run-on sentences and punctuation issues, particularly in the opening paragraph where multiple clauses are joined improperly with commas. You also make agreement and tense errors, such as "everything is been recycled" instead of has been recycled, and "usage of items that cannot we recycled should be not used" (passive voice error). Although communication is generally maintained despite these errors, the frequent lapses prevent the text from achieving a higher band. Focusing on sentence boundary punctuation and verifying verb tense formations will yield immediate improvements.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.