Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-09-18

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 5.0)

Recycled any kind of products make eco-system better because we use recycled products lifetime. Few individuals told that the only way to boost recycling is gor higher authorities to make it a legal obligation as well as they also assert that residential waste is not enough for recycled. Therefore, I firmly agree with the given statement.

To commence with, there are several factors to say that houshold waste is not enough for recycling. Firstly, most of the individuals have a busy lifestyle where they have not enough time to collecting plastics and glasses from their homes. Moreover, Absence of Strict Rules where Voluntary habits are not enough to fix the problem as well as Many individuals ignore recycling unless a clear law exists.

In addition,Enforcing civic duty and compliance: Laws create a formal sense of responsibility. When recycling is mandatory, people view sorting waste as a legal and civic obligation rather than an optional choice. Furthermore,Using penalties to drive action: Regulations allow governments to set fines or penalties for improper waste disposal. Fear of punishment or fines is an effective motivator for individuals who might otherwise ignore recycling guidelines.

On the other hand, Education and Public Awareness : Building a willing habit and also Laws force compliance, but public education teaches people why recycling matters. However, Proven success in other regions: Countries like Germany and South Korea have implemented strict legal frameworks for waste management. These legal mandates have resulted in significantly higher recycling rates and less strain on landfills.

To recapitulate, after scrutinizing the topic in its entirety. It can be manifested that busy lifestyle, Absence of Strict Rules, Enforcing civic duty and compliance, Using penalties to drive action, Proven success in other regions these are points where people recycle more of their waste in daily-lifes.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt by discussing whether recycling should be made a legal requirement, and the writer clearly states a position ('I firmly agree with the given statement'). However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited and repetitive. While the writer touches on valid points such as busy lifestyles, civic duty, penalties, and international examples like Germany and South Korea, these ideas are often presented as lists or disconnected fragments rather than fully elaborated arguments. For example, the body paragraphs include headings or abrupt transitions like 'Education and Public Awareness : Building a willing habit...' which disrupts the natural flow of argumentation. To reach a higher band, the writer needs to expand on individual points with deeper explanations and concrete examples rather than relying on brief assertions.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The essay demonstrates an attempt at logical organisation, utilising standard transition markers such as 'To commence with', 'In addition', and 'On the other hand'. However, the overall progression is frequently hindered by awkward paragraphing, sentence fragments, and erratic punctuation. For instance, the paragraph beginning with 'On the other hand, Education and Public Awareness...' abruptly combines a counter-argument or topic heading with fragments of sentences rather than forming a cohesive paragraph. Furthermore, the final conclusion is a run-on sentence fragment that merely lists previous points without effectively summarising the argument. Cohesive devices are sometimes mechanical or misused, leading to a choppy reading experience where relationships between sentences are not always clear.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is adequate for communicating basic ideas, but it shows significant limitations and inaccuracies. The writer attempts some less common vocabulary, such as 'legal obligation', 'civic duty', and 'frameworks', but these are frequently marred by word choice and collocation errors, such as 'residential waste is not enough for recycled' instead of 'recycled', or 'busy lifestyle where they have not enough time to collecting'. There are also numerous spelling and morphological errors, including 'houshold', 'daily-lifes', and grammatical misapplications of word forms (e.g., 'Recycled any kind of products'). The range is sufficient to convey the general topic, but frequent lexical inaccuracies restrict the score to this level.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 4.5

The text displays a very limited range of grammatical structures, with frequent and pervasive errors throughout. Simple sentences dominate, and attempts at complex structures are usually faulty, resulting in ungrammatical constructions such as 'Recycled any kind of products make eco-system better because we use recycled products lifetime' and 'there are several factors to say that houshold waste is not enough for recycling.' Punctuation is also poorly handled, with erratic capitalization, missing commas, and stray colons used inappropriately (e.g., 'Education and Public Awareness : Building a willing habit and also Laws force compliance...'). These frequent errors in grammar and sentence mechanics cause considerable difficulty for the reader and impede clear communication at times.

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.