Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Momentum Workout · 2026-10-02

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)

With the growing concern of environment, it is often argued by some people that recycling will be benifitted because material will be used again and there will be no pollution. While others believe that recycling is not the perfect solution, we must consume less along with recycling as less pollutants will be used. But in my opinion, we should recycle our items to clean our environment.

On one hand, the supporters of recycling items believe that we should reuse our item to make our environment clean. As in recycling most of items will be reused. For example, in Russia it is reported in journal that after recycling items the 90% of environment is cleaned and the ratio of deceases has also been decreased. So this is a useful factor.

On the other hand, the opponents of recycling believe that consuming less is more fruitful. As use of products is limited pollution will also be limited. For instance, in Japan as people started consuming less, they are more fit now and pollution is also controlled. So consumption of less products result in benifit of people.

While, I believe that rrecycling items is more benifitted. As if we reuse something it will be decomposed to some extent and our environment will be remained clean.

To sum up, recycling items is not only enifitful in terms of reuse of them but also helps in cleaning our environment and pollution control. But less consumption is also necessary for neat and clean environment. So consider both for great results

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses all parts of the task by discussing both views—that recycling is sufficient and that we need to consume less—while presenting an opinion, meeting the basic prompt requirements. However, the ideas are limited and under-developed, placing the response in this band. For instance, the arguments regarding the benefits of recycling or reduced consumption are supported only by vague assertions and unconvincing examples, such as the unsupported claims about statistics in Russia and Japan. The position is stated, but the lack of thorough elaboration means the task is only partially addressed in terms of depth. To reach a higher level, the writer needs to extend and support arguments with more specific, logical explanations and realistic examples rather than generalized claims.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The essay displays some organization through the use of standard paragraphing, with an introduction, body paragraphs addressing each view, an opinion paragraph, and a conclusion. There is a basic attempt to sequence ideas logically using transition signals such as 'On one hand' and 'On the other hand'. However, there is no clear overall progression throughout the text, and some sentences feel disjointed or repetitive. Cohesive devices are sometimes inaccurate or awkward, such as the abrupt transitions and the repetitive use of formulaic phrases. Referencing is also occasionally unclear, making the flow of ideas mechanical rather than natural. To improve, the writer should ensure that ideas build upon one another more smoothly and that cohesive devices are used more accurately to connect arguments across paragraphs.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is limited but minimally adequate to convey the basic message of the prompt, featuring repetitive terms such as 'environment', 'recycling', 'consume', and 'pollution'. There are noticeable errors in word choice, word form, and spelling that occasionally cause difficulty for the reader, including 'benifitted' instead of 'beneficial', 'deceases' instead of 'diseases', and 'enifitful'. The writer attempts some less common vocabulary, but these attempts are marred by inaccurate collocations and lexical slips. To achieve a higher band, the writer must expand their vocabulary range, learn the correct word forms for different parts of speech, and demonstrate greater precision and accuracy in lexical choices.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The essay relies on a limited range of sentence structures, consisting mostly of simple sentences alongside a few attempts at complex forms that are frequently faulty. There are frequent errors in grammar, including issues with articles ('the 90% of environment'), prepositions ('result in benifit of people'), plurals, and subject-verb agreement ('environment will be remained clean'). These errors are frequent and can cause some difficulty for the reader in tracking the exact meaning. To improve, the writer needs to increase the variety of sentence structures while exercising much greater control over basic grammatical rules, verb forms, and punctuation to ensure error-free sentences.

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

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