Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-11-05

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

Some people claim that not enough of the waste from homes is recycled. They say that the only way to increase recycling is for governments to make it a legal requirement.

To what extent do you think laws are needed to make people recycle more of their waste?

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

Student answer (Band 5.0)

more and more people think that not enough of the waste from homes is recycled. They believe that the only way to increase recycling is for authorities to make it a legal requirement. this essay will give the main reasons for my position.

on one hand , i believe that laws play a crucial role in the society . in fact , recycling is one of the major things that feeds the human needs . in other words, goverments should make sticts rules to climb and encourage people to benefit from this waste instead on throwing them .

A study published in NEW YORK university concluded that 80% of products that we use in our daily life are result of recycling , there for the state should take encourage people by giving them money and open new ways to convince people how important we should do this.

in the other hand , goverments make a law to can punish those who do not want to cooperate , as a result people will be afraid , and start to to the right thing .

to sum up , the recycling systhem should be applied on the whole world so we keep living in peace .

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response4.5
Coherence and Cohesion5.0
Lexical Resource5.0
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.0
Overall5.0

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.5

You take a position that laws are important and mention both encouragement and punishment, so the response is relevant to the question. However, the position is only partly explained: the claim that recycling “feeds the human needs” is unclear, and the example about 80% of products being recycled is not explained or connected convincingly to why laws are needed. The conclusion that recycling should be applied worldwide does not clearly answer how far you think legal requirements are necessary. The response also contains 184 words, below the required 250; 20 words copied from the task prompt were not counted. Develop each reason with a clear explanation and a specific, relevant example, and state your view directly in the conclusion.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

There is a basic structure, with an introduction, two body paragraphs and a conclusion, and phrases such as “on one hand” and “as a result” show an attempt to connect ideas. However, progression is difficult to follow because the relationship between claims is not always clear. For example, the paragraph about government encouragement moves from a study to giving people money and opening “new ways” without explaining the steps in the argument. The contrast marker “in the other hand” is also used inaccurately, and the final sentence introduces a broad idea about world peace rather than drawing the argument together. Organise each body paragraph around one reason, then explain and illustrate it in sequence; use linking expressions only where their meaning fits.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some topic-related vocabulary, including “recycling,” “legal requirement,” “punish” and “cooperate,” which makes the general subject clear. However, the range is limited, and several word choices or combinations are inaccurate or unclear, such as “feeds the human needs,” “climb and encourage” and “benefit from this waste.” Spelling errors, including “goverments,” “sticts” and “systhem,” also make the writing less clear and polished. Aim for precise phrases that express the intended meaning, such as “meet people’s needs,” “introduce stricter rules” and “make better use of household waste.” Check spelling carefully and avoid relying on repeated general words such as “people” and “things.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple statements and longer sentences, including a sentence beginning “A study published in…” and a result clause introduced by “as a result.” However, the range is limited, and errors occur frequently enough to make some sentences difficult to interpret. Examples include “the only way … is for authorities to make,” followed by inconsistent capitalisation and punctuation, and “goverments make a law to can punish,” where the verb pattern is faulty. The sentence about the study also joins several ideas without clear grammatical control. Practise forming accurate clauses with a subject and finite verb, and use modal verbs correctly—for example, “governments could introduce laws to penalise…” Review sentence boundaries, articles and punctuation, then proofread for consistent capitalisation.

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

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