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)

The household waste becomes a serious threat for the natural ecosystem. Some people argue that not enough of waste from home is recycled. They say that the only solution to rise recycling is for government to make it a legal requirement. In my opinion, I strongly agree.

Governments must implement a strict regulation for individuals to lessen the waste in the community. The strong laws force the public to recycle their rubbish. As a result, a significant amount of waste will decrease in many buildings and public spaces. Local authorities obligate offenders to pay heavy fines because they do not recycle their trash and pollute the natural environment. For instance, in Japan, everyone preserves the ecosystem by using a special separate waste bins found in various sites.

There are many effective solutions to solve the problem. Launching awareness campaigns and seminars encourage upcycling and improve the knowledge about the environment in general. Creating effective sustainable waste management develops the recycling process to the highest level, therefore, it maintains human well-being and mental health. For example, charity competitions are a beneficial method to encourage people to recycle rubbish quickly, especially when they win a valuable prize.

In conclusion, the recycling waste process is an essential issue for both governments and individuals. Many effective solutions can solve this problem, for example, implementing a strict law on people, as well as making various competitions to encourage citizens to maintain the environment. Finally, the results will have a favorable impact on the natural ecosystem.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt by discussing whether governments should make recycling a legal requirement, and the student presents a clear position ('In my opinion, I strongly agree'). All parts of the prompt are covered, though some arguments are slightly compressed. For instance, the second paragraph mentions Japan and waste bins, but this example is somewhat brief and could have been expanded to show how legal requirements operate in practice. The third paragraph introduces other solutions like awareness campaigns and charity competitions, which is relevant to discussing the extent to which laws are needed, though it slightly detracts from the main thesis defending mandatory laws. Overall, the ideas are relevant and support the overall position, aligning well with the Band 6 descriptors.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with logical paragraphing. Each paragraph has a clear thematic focus, moving from an introduction and stance, to arguments for legal requirements, to alternative solutions, and finally a conclusion. Cohesive devices are used to link ideas, such as 'As a result', 'For instance', and 'In conclusion'. However, some cohesive links feel slightly mechanical or repetitive, and referencing is occasionally imprecise, such as 'the recycling waste process is an essential issue'. Paragraph transitions work adequately, but the logical progression between paragraphs could be smoother to reach a higher band. These characteristics fit the Band 6 descriptor well.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully using terms like 'natural ecosystem', 'sustainable waste management', and 'favorable impact'. There are, however, some noticeable word choice and collocation inaccuracies throughout the text. For example, the opening phrase 'The household waste becomes' contains an unnecessary article, and 'rise recycling' should be 'raise recycling' or 'increase recycling'. Furthermore, 'special separate waste bins' is slightly awkward. While less common vocabulary is attempted, errors in word choice and morphology occur regularly, though they rarely impede overall communication. This performance corresponds to a Band 6.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The response exhibits a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as 'Some people argue that not enough of waste from home is recycled' and 'When they win a valuable prize, charity competitions are a beneficial method...'. There are several grammatical errors scattered throughout the essay, including missing articles ('not enough of waste'), incorrect prepositions or verbs ('obligate offenders to pay', where 'oblige' or 'require' is more standard), and tense consistency slips. Punctuation is generally acceptable, and while these errors are noticeable, they do not impede the reader's comprehension. This level of control represents a solid Band 6 grammar profile.

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