Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-08-05
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 5.5)
Some people say that it should be lawful requirement for all public to recycle the domestic waste.They think its government responsibilty to make laws about it. I strongly agree to this school of thought as it is basic need today in such a polluted world.
Firstly the pollution is increasing day by day due to more population,domestic waste,industrial waste raw material and plastic material from public thrown in streets,open markets and bazars without anyones permission. W.H.O gave a report last month about pollution that around 5percent of air index polluted more this year due to waste that is made from plastic.
Secondly its time to follow sustainable development programmes that teach us how to keep envoirnment clean and protected.Sustainable development programmes basically tells about recycling household wastage and industrial waste from big industries.Recycling should be the part of everyones daily life so that everyoe can give contribution to clean the atmosphere around himself.Its requirement now to clean our envoirnment by adopting these small steps and keeping our surrounding more healthy and place to live because the microdiseases are spreading continuosly day by day due to exra waste and chemical gases released from it.
Thirdly it should also be a legal requirement for everyone to keep it clean by recycling most of waste material.Government should open public training institutions for it so that everyone can learn how to recycle the material overall.Everyone should have knowledge about it so that everyone can contribute to make a dream clean envoirnment surrounding himself.
In conclusion its time to keep our envoirnment clean by following such thinkings given by educated people.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The response addresses the prompt by taking a clear position in favor of legal requirements for recycling. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited. While you mention pollution and sustainable development, the arguments remain quite general and lack specific, logical links to why legislation is the most effective solution compared to other methods like education or incentives. The mention of a W.H.O. report is a good attempt at supporting evidence, but it is not fully integrated into the argument regarding legal mandates. To improve, ensure each paragraph focuses on a distinct reason that directly supports your stance on government intervention.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The essay is organized into clear paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the structure. You use basic cohesive devices like 'Firstly', 'Secondly', and 'In conclusion' to signal the progression of your argument. However, the flow between sentences is sometimes mechanical, and the use of referencing is occasionally unclear (e.g., 'keep it clean' refers back to an implied concept rather than a specific noun). The transition between the idea of pollution and the necessity of laws could be smoother. Improving the variety of linking words and ensuring that pronouns clearly refer to their antecedents would enhance the overall coherence.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, allowing you to express your ideas clearly. You use some topic-specific terms like 'sustainable development', 'domestic waste', and 'industrial waste'. However, there are several instances of awkward phrasing and word choice, such as 'lawful requirement for all public' (should be 'the public') and 'microdiseases' (which is not standard terminology). Spelling errors, such as 'envoirnment' and 'responsibilty', occur frequently. To reach a higher band, focus on using more precise collocations and ensure accurate spelling of key academic vocabulary.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there is a high frequency of grammatical errors. Issues include missing articles ('the' government, 'the' environment), subject-verb agreement errors ('programmes basically tells'), and punctuation mistakes (missing spaces after periods). While these errors do not completely impede communication, they are persistent throughout the text. To improve, you should focus on basic sentence construction, particularly the correct use of articles and pluralization, and proofread carefully to catch minor slips in punctuation and verb forms.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.