Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-09-16

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)

In the contemporary world, there is an ongoing debate that the government should make it mandatory for people to recycle waste because they think that households are not doing enough efforts to recycle their garbage. I firmly believe that the government should enact a statute to make it a legal requirement for public, and also take initiatives to introduce new dump yards and dustbins in the residential areas.

First and foremost, bringing a law would pressurise the people who are careless about the garbage. The law should include a heavy fine to the families who do not follow the rules. As a result, fear of a colossal amount of fine would persuade them to become disciplined. For instance, the families throwing their garbage here and there without being hesitant would discontinue these practices.

Furthermore, the government should not rely on the public participation only, however, the cencerning bodies should layout a framework of building recyling plants and establish the dustbin facilities nearby houses. The waste collected in the dustbins would subsequently be transferred to the nearby recyling facilities, it may resulting in immediate recylce of waste without delay. To illustrate it, the vehicles which collect waste would collect the thrown away dirts of houses from dustbin and transport them to the recycling plants.

In conclusion, from my perspective, the government should focus on implementation of law as well as introducing new public facilities such as recycling plants and dustbins in order to recyle the adequate of waste.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The student addresses all parts of the task, presenting a clear position throughout the essay. The stance that governments should enact legislation while simultaneously providing infrastructure is maintained from the introduction to the conclusion. Main ideas are supported with explanations, such as the use of fines to deter careless disposal and the necessity of building recycling plants near residential areas. However, there is a minor under-development in extending the examples, and the essay is penalized because the length requirement is NOT met (the student wrote 247 words against the minimum 250-word requirement). Consequently, the overall task achievement is limited by this length constraint, fitting comfortably into a Band 5.5 score due to the combined effect of slightly underdeveloped ideas and the word count penalty.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with a clear paragraphing structure, moving logically from an introduction to body paragraphs discussing legal penalties and infrastructure, followed by a conclusion. Cohesive devices are employed, such as "First and foremost", "Furthermore", and "In conclusion", which help guide the reader through the text. However, referencing and cohesion are occasionally faulty or mechanical, as seen in the phrasing "the cencerning bodies should layout a framework" and awkward transitions like "it may resulting in immediate recylce of waste without delay". Paragraphing is used sufficiently, but overall logical progression can feel somewhat formulaic, justifying a Band 6.0.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting less common items such as "contemporary world", "mandatory", "statute", and "colossal amount". However, there are noticeable spelling and word-choice errors that detract from precision, such as "doing enough efforts" instead of making enough effort, "cencerning bodies" (misspelling of concerning), "layout" (used as a verb instead of lay out), "recylce" (spelling error), and "dirts" (uncountable noun used incorrectly as a plural). Despite these inaccuracies, communication is not impeded, placing the lexical resource clearly within the Band 6.0 category.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing relative clauses and conditional-like phrasing effectively in places, such as "the families throwing their garbage here and there without being hesitant would discontinue these practices." Nevertheless, there are frequent grammatical errors in tense consistency and verb forms, notably "it may resulting in immediate recylce" and "adequacy of waste" instead of an adequate amount of waste. Punctuation and article usage also exhibit minor flaws. Because simple structures are generally accurate while complex attempts contain errors that occasionally strain grammatical control, a Band 5.5 is awarded.

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