Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-08-18

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)

It is often argued nowadays that several houses are not involved in recycling the waste, as a result most of waste was not recycled. There is only one way to increase recycling that is the government should introduced strict laws and regulations about recycling to make it necessary. I firmly agree that action taken by the government is the most important step towards recycling the waste products. This essay will discuss in detail and reach on the conclusion.

Firstly, recycling the waste bins plays a crucial role in well developed and healthy society. There are many reasons why enough of waste is not recycled from homes. The first one is that there was some people who not taking this action seriously or important. for example they collect waste as much as they can then they throw it on the street which highly affects people health such as many new diseases was spread because of waste like malaria, dengue and many other illness. Secondly, some people also burn their waste products as they won't involve in recycling. Furthermore, many waste collecting vehicles was not collected much of bins as there was not a strict rule so they ignored some areas to collect waste from there. In this way, waste is not recycled because of these reasons.

The government should introduced laws regarding waste bin for example, authorities should charged homes that was not involved in recycled. Secondly, they should arrange some awarness sessions which specially designed to educate people about recycling importance. In this workshops they tells people about benefits of recycling plastic materials and many other things.

In conclusion, as far as i am concerned i agree that the government should take action against people who are showing careless attitude towards waste bin. such as by introducing rules and arranged seminars to educate families. they should punish homes that are not involved in recycling. for example charge them around 20% money or may introduced new rules which are effective to increase recycling process.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt and maintains a clear position throughout. The ideas are relevant, such as the mention of health risks and the need for educational workshops. However, the development of these ideas is somewhat limited and repetitive. For instance, the argument regarding waste collection vehicles is not fully explored, and the suggestion of a 20% fine is a specific example but lacks a broader discussion on the feasibility or potential drawbacks of such legal requirements. To reach a higher band, you should aim to expand on your reasoning with more depth and provide a more balanced view of the topic.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organized into logical paragraphs, each with a clear focus. You use basic cohesive devices like 'Firstly', 'Secondly', and 'In conclusion' to guide the reader. However, the flow between sentences is sometimes mechanical, and the use of referencing is occasionally unclear, such as in the second paragraph where the connection between waste collection vehicles and the lack of recycling is slightly disjointed. Additionally, some transitions are repetitive. Improving the variety of your linking words and ensuring that each sentence flows naturally into the next will help improve the overall coherence of your writing.

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 'recycling', 'waste products', and 'regulations'. However, there is a reliance on simple or repetitive language, and some word choices are inaccurate, such as 'well developed and healthy society' or 'waste collecting vehicles was not collected'. There are also minor errors in word formation, such as 'awarness' (awareness). To improve, try to incorporate more precise academic vocabulary and ensure correct collocations to demonstrate a wider range of lexical control.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The essay contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors throughout. Common issues include subject-verb agreement ('most of waste was not recycled', 'many waste collecting vehicles was not collected'), tense inconsistencies ('government should introduced'), and missing articles. While these errors do not completely impede communication, they are frequent enough to be noticeable. To achieve a higher score, focus on mastering basic sentence construction, particularly subject-verb agreement and consistent verb tense usage, before attempting more complex structures.

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

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