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)

Recycling has become a great issue in big cities, there is more trash in the big cities all over the world because, there is no proper systerm of recycling the waste in most of the countries all around the world.

First of all, domestic waste is a massive probluem in cities, because there is no proper guidance for people that how to recycle the waste by there own, and they only relay on government to recycle there waste. it is important for the both the government and the public to cooperative with each other to increase recycling and reduce the trash, government should install different type of garbage can for different type of garbage to fasten up the recycling process for instance,there should be separte garbage drum for plastic waste and seprate for paper as well as for tin and metal stuff, by introducing these type of laws govt can collect different waste easily and recycle them accurately, because if the waste material are in the same drum it is difficult to seprate it from other.

Recycling, also helps to save the envirment and the wildlife too, people should given proper trainings to start recycling by there own in their homes, like using water bottels again and again by cleaning them or dont use plastic bags to often, instead use paper or cloth bags to carry the stuff. forexample; in my city plastic bags are the greatest probluem, so the govt take action and banned the use of plastic bags and some one dose use the plastic bags he was heavily finned, so instead of using plastic bags govrnment introduce reuseable papers bags which are used more than 1 time and they are biodegradable.

In conclusion, trash is great threat to humanity as well as the wild life and envirment so we whould coperate with our authoritues to ensure the protection of our envirment from trash.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt by discussing whether laws are needed to force people to recycle. The writer presents a clear position that both government laws (such as installing separate bins and banning plastic bags) and public cooperation are necessary. Ideas are generally relevant, but development is somewhat limited and repetitive, particularly regarding the description of garbage bins and plastic bags. The response touches upon the main task requirements and provides a personal example from the writer's city, meeting the criteria for a Band 5.5 to 6.0. However, because the exploration of ideas remains somewhat superficial and over-generalized, a band score of 5.5 is most appropriate, reflecting a response that addresses all parts of the task somewhat unevenly with limited development.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The essay is divided into paragraphs, though the structuring within paragraphs is problematic. The first body paragraph consists of one extremely long, run-on sentence containing multiple clauses linked by commas rather than appropriate conjunctions or full stops (e.g., '...increase recycling and reduce the trash, government should install...'). Cohesive devices are used, but they are often inadequate or mechanical, such as repetitive use of 'like', 'for instance', and 'forexample;'. Paragraphing is attempted, but the overall logical progression is hindered by poor punctuation and sentence boundary errors. Referencing is sometimes unclear, particularly with pronoun use ('they only relay on government to recycle there waste'). This aligns closely with the Band 5 descriptors.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, touching upon relevant topics such as 'domestic waste', 'biodegradable', and 'wildlife'. However, there are frequent spelling errors ('systerm', 'probluem', 'relay', 'cooperative', 'separte', 'seprate', 'envirment', 'bottels', 'to' instead of 'too', 'forexample', 'finned', 'govrnment', 'reuseable', 'whould', 'coperate', 'authoritues') and word choice inaccuracies (e.g., 'garbage drum', 'heavy finned'). While the vocabulary is minimally adequate to convey the basic message, the high frequency of spelling and morphological errors restricts the score to a Band 5.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but control over grammar and punctuation is weak. A major issue is the heavy reliance on comma splices and run-on sentences, as seen in '...garbage drum for plastic waste and seprate for paper as well as for tin and metal stuff, by introducing these type of laws govt can collect different waste easily...'. There are also frequent errors in article usage, pluralisation ('different type of garbage can'), and subject-verb agreement. Complex sentence attempts are frequently faulty. Because errors are frequent and often cause strain for the reader, this performance fits the Band 5 descriptors.

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