Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · IELTS Momentum Workout · 2026-10-08

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 6.5)

The growing concern for the environment has generated a debate, whether recycling is enough or do we need to reduce our consumption. In my opinion, recycling has become a necessity, but recycling alone is not enough to protect the enviornment.

Recycling has played an important role in reducing depletion of natural resources. Recycling old clothes, tupperware, and cartons etc, play an important part in reducing deforestation and soil erosion, by making sure that we do not cut excessive trees for the products that can be made using recycled materials. Recycling also reduces air pollution, by reducing waste material that needs to be combusted. Recycling also creates awareness and a sense of civic responsibility towards environment, among citizens.

Eventhough, recycling has a lot of benefits, it is still not enough. Our consumption rate is higher than the recycling rate. Consequently, recycling alone can not help in stopping environmental degradation. Therefore, we need to reduce our consumption rate. Shifting to cloth bags, purchasing recycled items, and replacing plastic with materials that can be decomposed can help reduce our consumption rate. Reducing consumption would help lower air pollution as the factories would be producing less items. Reducing consumption would also impact the annual and daily waste of cities and countries.

In conclusion, recycling can be helpful only when we reduce our consumption. In the modern world, recycling rate is way lower than the speed at which we are consuming, and thus, recycling should be accompained by reduced consumption, if we want to stop enviornment degradation and restore it.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

You address both views and state a consistent position: recycling is necessary, but it must be accompanied by reduced consumption. The discussion of recycling’s benefits—such as conserving resources and reducing waste sent for combustion—is relevant, and you explain why consumption also needs to fall. This meets the task well, though some points are asserted rather than fully supported. For example, the claims that recycling reduces deforestation and soil erosion, and that lower consumption would reduce cities’ annual and daily waste, would be stronger with a clearer explanation or a specific example. The suggestions about cloth bags and recycled products are useful, but could be linked more explicitly to consuming less overall. More developed support would make the argument more convincing.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response has a clear overall structure: an introduction, a paragraph on recycling, a paragraph on reducing consumption, and a conclusion that restates your position. The progression from the benefits of recycling to its limitations is easy to follow, and signposts such as “Consequently,” “Therefore,” and “In conclusion” help guide the reader. However, the repeated use of “Recycling” and “Reducing consumption” at the start of successive sentences makes some cohesion feel mechanical. The relationship between examples and claims could also be made clearer; for instance, the list of cloth bags and recycled items is not fully connected to the idea of reducing consumption. Use more varied referencing and link each example directly to the point it supports.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range of topic vocabulary, including “natural resources,” “deforestation,” “soil erosion,” “combusted,” and “environmental degradation.” These choices make the subject clear, and some less common terms show an effort to be precise. However, there are several spelling errors, including “enviornment” and “accompained,” and some word choices or collocations are inaccurate or awkward, such as “annual and daily waste” and “restore it” when referring to the environment. “Tupperware” is also an overly specific example in this context. Aim for more natural academic phrasing and check spelling carefully; this would improve precision while preserving the clear meaning of your argument.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.5

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, including cause-and-effect structures with “Consequently” and “Therefore,” and a conditional clause in “if we want to stop…” Meaning remains clear throughout. Some grammatical errors persist, however. The opening question structure is not correctly embedded after “a debate” (“whether recycling is enough or do we need…”); use “whether recycling is enough or whether we need…”. There are also agreement and article issues in “Recycling old clothes… play” and “towards environment,” as well as punctuation problems in “Even though, recycling…”. These errors do not generally impede understanding, but more consistent control of agreement, clause structure, and punctuation would strengthen the writing.

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