Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-10-06

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)

It is argued by some people that not sufficient of the waste from is recycled. Higher authorities can make it a legal requirement to expand recycling. I believe the best way make people recycle more of their waste by making a law.

To begin with, many people donot easily recycle the waste because they are not willing to change their habit. The law which will going to help this issue is that government can make a scheme like whenever an individual is going to reuse or recycle their waste the person will get money and a person will start earning by this scheme. For example, government have to place a machine in an area where individuals can come and dispose their waste into that machine, after the process has been done they will get $2 for each waste from the machine itself.

In addition to this, government should also take initiative to make an strict law. People are more likely to recycle when they understand it's environment friendly, this have to done from the government by making awareness in the society, running campaigns ever weekend. Also there should be a dumping container in each society. Moreover, there should also be a strict rules like whenever an individual get caught they have to pay a high penalty for not recyling the garbage. To give a quint essential example, in school for childrens there should be an awareness programs, therefore childrens from their childhood should know to recycle waste.

In conclusion, I think that laws can play an important role in expansion of recycling waste. However friendly awareness will also work to make changes in the society.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The response addresses all parts of the task and presents a clear position regarding the need for laws to increase recycling. The main arguments are relevant, such as introducing financial incentives and stricter penalties for improper disposal. However, some ideas are more fully developed than others. For example, the suggestion about financial reward machines in the first body paragraph is explored with a specific monetary amount, whereas the points in the second paragraph, such as running weekend campaigns and placing dumping containers, remain somewhat superficial and lack deeper extension. To move to a higher band, all ideas would need to be thoroughly developed with sustained supporting evidence and deeper analysis throughout every body paragraph.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The essay presents a coherent overall arrangement with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion, satisfying the basic requirements of paragraphing. Cohesive devices are used to signal logical progression, such as 'To begin with', 'In addition to this', and 'In conclusion'. However, cohesion is sometimes mechanical and referencing is not always completely clear. For instance, transitional phrases feel slightly formulaic, and pronouns like 'it' in phrases such as 'when they understand it's environment friendly' lack a precise, smooth antecedent. To achieve a higher band, the progression of ideas needs to be more fluid, and cohesive relationships between sentences must be managed with greater subtlety and variety rather than relying on standard formulaic connectors.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The writer demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully attempting less common lexical items such as 'financial requirement', 'incentives', and 'penalty'. However, there are noticeable limitations and inaccuracies in word choice, collocation, and spelling that reflect a restricted lexical control. Examples include spelling errors like 'donot' and 'recyling', awkward collocations such as 'friendly awareness', and grammatical word-form slips like 'quint essential' instead of 'quintessential'. While these errors do not severely impede communication, they prevent the response from reaching a higher band. To improve, the writer should focus on expanding their range of natural collocations, ensuring correct word forms, and eliminating basic spelling mistakes.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response utilizes a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, attempting structures such as conditional clauses and relative clauses. However, there are frequent grammatical errors across the text, including tense and verb form inconsistencies, article omissions, and incorrect prepositions. Notable errors include 'not sufficient of the waste from is recycled' (missing noun and passive voice error), 'The law which will going to help' (incorrect verb tense construction), and 'whenever an individual get caught' (subject-verb agreement error). These errors require some effort from the reader to interpret, placing the grammar firmly in this category. To reach a higher band, the writer must improve control over complex sentence structures and significantly reduce the frequency of basic grammatical slips.

See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.

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