Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-07-29

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 6.5)

Nowadays, recycling of household waste has become a major issue. In this regard some people believe that legal laws should be imposed on public to ensure waste management while others argue that it can be complemented by other measures. I agree to a some extent with this notion due to many reasons which will outline in the forthcoming fragments with logical reasoning.

To begin with, there are few merits of introducing laws to make recycling of household waste a legal requirement. Firstly, fines and penalties. To explain, people or household ignoring or not practicing waste recycling can be fined accordingly to ensure waste management. As a result, due to fear of fines people would start taking recycling seriously which will preserve and sustain the environment. Bur there are some drawbacks of this notion which are discussed further.

Undoubtedly, relying solely on law and its legal actions it will outlook the need of basic manners, education and public engagement in the matter of domestic waste recycling. For example, the must have manners will be ignored due to legal requirements and it will result in illegal dumping of waste instead of correct recycling. Moreover, introduction of separate bins and regular collection of domestic waste can encourage the population to manage and recycle the waste. Furthermore, offering incentives. To elaborate, if people are able to receive benefits in the form of money or any other means, there will be a huge increase in the area or field of waste management and it will directly result in public awareness.

To conclude, even-though there are few benefits of the former notion like fear of punishment but the endless merits of introduction of legal requirements completely outweigh them in every mean. Thus, other reasons described early will be more effective than imposing of law and result in overall promotion of sustainable waste management along with recycling.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The response addresses the prompt by discussing the role of legislation in recycling. You clearly state your position in the introduction, although the conclusion is slightly contradictory; you state that the 'merits of introduction of legal requirements completely outweigh them,' which contradicts your earlier argument that other measures are more effective. To improve, ensure your conclusion aligns with your body paragraphs. The ideas are relevant, but the development is somewhat superficial. For example, while you mention 'incentives,' you could provide a more concrete example of how this has worked in a specific country to better support your argument.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The essay is organized into clear paragraphs, which helps the reader follow your argument. You use some cohesive devices like 'To begin with,' 'Moreover,' and 'To conclude.' However, some transitions are mechanical or slightly misused, such as 'Bur there are some drawbacks' (likely a typo for 'But') and 'in every mean,' which is not a standard idiomatic expression. The logical progression is generally clear, but the final paragraph contains a confusing summary that undermines the coherence of your overall argument by misstating your stance on the necessity of laws.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.5

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'sustainable,' 'incentives,' and 'waste management.' However, there are several instances of awkward word choice and non-standard collocations, such as 'legal laws' (redundant), 'outlook the need' (should be 'overlook'), and 'in every mean' (should be 'in every sense' or 'by any means'). These errors occasionally hinder the precision of your expression. To reach a higher band, focus on using more natural collocations and avoiding repetitive phrasing.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is generally clear, there are frequent grammatical errors, such as 'I agree to a some extent,' 'some people believe that legal laws should be imposed on public,' and 'which will outline in the forthcoming fragments.' These errors, along with missing articles and minor punctuation issues, are noticeable. While they do not prevent communication, they occur frequently enough to limit the score. Increasing your control over sentence structure and proofreading for basic subject-verb agreement will help improve your accuracy.

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