Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-09-23

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)

Nowadays waste from homes is the main cause of land pollution. Land pollution effects humans and animals. The only method to control the land pollution is recycling. Recycling is the method in which we make new things from the waste products. For example, waste plastic bottles and other waste plastic items are melt in kiln at high temperature and then molded into other new items. In this way we can take advantage from the waste products.

Some people claims that the only way to increase recycling is for governments to make it a legal requirement. I think that is the right idea because when governments emphasize the people for recycling then this idea can work.

For this governments should give rewards to people for recycling the waste products. When people see their on advantage in it they will work more efficiently. For example, in Pakistan last year over prime minister announced that, who will deposit 10 wasted plastic bottles in recycle bin he will be rewarded by the Government of Pakistan. And this strategy works and about 100 million wasted plastic bottles were collected in a year.

I think this strategy was beneficial for government and as well as public.

Governments can use others strategies but their goal should be recycle the waste from home. In this way we can reduce land pollution which is dangerous for living organisms which live on land.

Waste material also pollute the air because most of the waste is exposed to fire and smoke from this fire contains many harmful gases which are very harmful for human health.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

The response addresses the prompt by discussing whether governments should make recycling a legal requirement and introduces personal knowledge and examples, such as the initiative in Pakistan. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited and repetitive, particularly regarding land and air pollution. The writer takes a clear position in the second paragraph ('I think that is the right idea'), but the arguments lack depth and tend to wander into general statements about pollution rather than focusing strictly on the extent to which laws are needed. As a result, the task is only partially satisfied with under-developed support, placing it within the Band 5 descriptor.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The text displays some basic organization, with an introduction, body paragraphs discussing government strategies, and a concluding thought. However, there is a lack of clear overall progression and logical connection between sentences and paragraphs. Cohesive devices are minimal, repetitive, or inaccurate, such as abruptly shifting from plastic recycling to air pollution in the final paragraphs without clear transitional signals. Paragraphing is also erratic, with single-sentence paragraphs breaking the flow of the argument. Referencing is sometimes unclear, which hampers readability. These features align with the Band 5 descriptors for Coherence and Cohesion.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is generally basic and repetitive, such as frequent repetition of 'waste', 'pollution', 'plastic bottles', and 'strategy'. There are notable word-choice errors and awkward collocations, such as 'are melt in kiln' instead of 'are melted in a kiln' and 'over prime minister' instead of 'former prime minister'. The range of vocabulary is limited to a minimally adequate level for the task, with noticeable errors that occasionally cause difficulty or distract the reader, which is characteristic of Band 5.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentences, but structures are often faulty. There are frequent grammatical and punctuation errors throughout the text, including tense issues ('effects humans' instead of 'affects humans'), missing articles ('in recycle bin' instead of 'in a recycle bin'), and passive voice errors ('are melt'). Furthermore, prepositional errors ('advantage in it' instead of 'advantage to it') are common. Although the meaning is usually retrievable, the frequency of errors places this response firmly at Band 5.

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