Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · IELTS Momentum Workout · 2026-10-22

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)

To curb the growing environmental concern, whether recycling more waste by individuals is suffcient or do people need to consume less, remains a contentious issue. In this essay, I will discuss both views and further state my opinion why individuals must consume less and recycle to their maximum capcity to.

On the one side, some people believe that materials such as paper, plastic, and battery must be recycled and reprocessed instead of throwing them away. This is because it helps in reducing wastes accumulation in landfills. Excess waste in landfills pollute the surroundings as well. For instance, majority landfills are located near ocean and can pollute the water. Also, the plant near the landfills that burns these waste produces harmful gases affecting the health of people in near by regions. Since majority of the waste are paper, plastic, or battery, recycling them as much as possible will drastically reduce the waste accumalation in landfills.

On the other hand, some people argue that recycling is not enough and individuals need to consume less. Recycling is just one of the methods to reduce environmental problems. If people start to take shorter shower, it will significantly decrease water wastage. Similarly, if people begin to use public transport more than their private vehicles will also help in decreasing air pollution substantially. Therefore, simply by consuming less resources in everyday along with maximum recycling, the rapid growing environmental issue can be solved.

In conclusion, although recycling more waste help to ease the collection of waste in landfills and prevent pollution in around it, I strongly believe consuming less along with recycling more in everyday will help solve the rapid environmental problem more effectively.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

You address both views and state a clear position: you support consuming less as well as recycling. The recycling paragraph explains how reprocessing materials could reduce landfill waste, while the second gives practical examples involving shorter showers and public transport. These examples make the discussion relevant, and the conclusion reinforces your view. This meets the task well, but the two sides are not developed equally: the case for recycling is explained in more detail, whereas the reasons that reduced consumption would have a broader impact are asserted rather than fully explored. Some claims, such as most landfills being near the ocean, would also benefit from qualification or support. Develop the comparison between the approaches and explain more precisely why reducing consumption is especially important to make the argument more complete.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 7.0

The essay has a clear overall structure: an introduction, separate paragraphs for the two views, and a conclusion. The progression is easy to follow, and signposts such as “On the one side,” “On the other hand,” and “In conclusion” help readers identify each stage. Within paragraphs, examples generally follow the point they illustrate. Cohesion is effective overall, though some linking is formulaic, and the relationship between ideas could be made more explicit. For example, the move from shorter showers to public transport is clear as a list, but you could explain how both illustrate reduced resource use and emissions. The phrase “along with maximum recycling” also repeats the introduction’s idea rather than advancing the argument. Use a wider range of natural transitions and clearer references to connect claims and examples.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range of topic vocabulary, including “landfills,” “reprocessed,” “water wastage,” and “air pollution,” which makes the subject clear. There are also attempts at more formal phrasing, such as “contentious issue” and “significantly decrease.” However, some word choices and collocations are inaccurate or awkward, including “wastes accumulation,” “pollute the surroundings,” and “environmental concern” where the plural or a more natural expression is needed. Spelling errors such as “suffcient,” “capcity,” and “accumalation” also reduce accuracy. Communication remains clear, but greater control of collocation and careful proofreading would strengthen the vocabulary. Prefer precise expressions such as “waste accumulation” and “reduce resource consumption” over less natural combinations.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex structures, including a conditional sentence beginning “If people start to take shorter shower” and a subordinate clause introduced by “Since.” This shows an attempt to vary sentence forms, and the main ideas are generally understandable. Some grammatical errors remain, particularly with subject–verb agreement, articles, and sentence construction. For example, “the plant … that burns these waste produces” has agreement and plural problems, while “if people begin to use public transport more than their private vehicles will also help” lacks a clear grammatical subject for “will help.” The opening question structure is also awkwardly formed. Review agreement and article use, and check that conditional clauses are followed by a complete main clause. More consistently accurate complex sentences would improve control.

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