Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-10-07
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)
Some people says that recycling of waste from homes is not adequate. They say that the only way to increase recycling is for governments to make it a legal requirement. I partially agree with this statement because government along with rules and regulations, should fascilitate people in the recycling of waste from homes.
On the one hand government should provide benefits to the people for recycling of waste. such as government should provide a prize money for recycling of waste. Moreover governments should install recycling bins near to every house and government can also provide a door to door service for the collection of waste. For example governments can annouce a month relaxation in electercity bill for the house which is most cleaned.
On the hand governments can make rules and regulation for recycling of waste. They can impose the penalities on the house which throw garbbage in an unappropriate way. By following the rules and regulation people will fascilitate the recycling process. For example governments can impose the fine for not cleaning of the house.
In conclusion, although recycling of waste from homes can be increased by making rules and regulations such as imposing fines, I believe the other ways of recycling waste such as providing prize money, door to door collection of waste and increasing number of recycling bins are far better.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5
Your position is identifiable: you partially agree, arguing that rules can help but that practical support and incentives are also important. You address both approaches and give examples, including recycling bins, collection services and fines. However, several points are under-developed or unclear—for instance, the proposed electricity-bill “relaxation” and a fine for “not cleaning of the house” are not clearly linked to increasing recycling. The response also contains 206 words, below the required 250; the 18 words copied from the prompt are excluded from that count. This limits the space available to explain how effective or necessary laws are. Develop each example and state more directly when legal requirements are needed and why.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5
The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, two body paragraphs presenting different approaches, and a conclusion. “On the one hand” and “In conclusion” help signal the direction of the discussion. However, progression within the paragraphs is limited, and the second body paragraph begins “On the hand,” which does not clearly establish the intended contrast. Repeated use of “government” and “recycling of waste” makes the links between ideas mechanical, while some examples are placed after claims without explaining how they support them. Use clearer topic sentences, vary references such as “local authorities” and “these measures,” and add a sentence explaining the connection between each example and your position.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.0
You use enough topic-related vocabulary to communicate the main ideas, including “recycling bins,” “door to door service,” “penalties” and “fine.” However, the range is limited and several expressions are inaccurate or awkward, which makes parts of the argument less clear. Examples include “prize money for recycling of waste,” “a month relaxation in electercity bill,” and “throw garbbage in an unappropriate way.” There are also noticeable spelling errors, such as “fascilitate,” “annouce” and “penalities.” Aim for more precise collocations and check spelling carefully; for example, describe a “discount on electricity bills” or “a financial incentive” rather than using “relaxation” or repeating “prize money.”
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0
You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, including “although recycling … can be increased by making rules and regulations,” and the overall meaning is generally understandable. However, the range is limited, and errors occur frequently in basic sentence patterns. For example, “Some people says” has incorrect subject–verb agreement, while “On the one hand government” needs an article or plural subject. The sentence beginning “such as government should provide” is not properly connected to the preceding sentence, and “the house which is most cleaned” has an awkward relative construction. Practise accurate agreement, articles and sentence boundaries, then build longer sentences with clear clauses and punctuation.
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