Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-10-08

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)

There has been an increasing debate regarding household waste recycling that should be governed by governments or even initiatives like legislization amendment making legal requirement. Some people argue that government can play major role here and other claim otherwise. In my opinion laws can help ensure waste recycling to a certain extent but to fully ensure international organizations must play their role to make it possible.

On one hand, Goverment can make laws to to make people fully recycle household wastage but there are some items that cannot be recycled. Government should consider amendment that ensure use of recyclable material in almost everything to be used in daily routine in adition to making it compulsary to recycle the items. Government can do ths by imposing taxes on items made with non-recyclable material, whereas easing manufacturing of recyclable material articles. Likewise Goverments should make laws to make people recycle household wastage on strict terms.

On the other hand, Government only cannot ensure all wastage is recycled that might result in poor quality products eventually. Environmental activist organization and play role here to raise awarness about development and use of environment friendly products and avoiding use of products that could harm nature either way by accumulating raw material or during manufacturing during usage or even when wasted after its application. For instance these organizations with joint efforts of local governments can start compaigns about use of bio degredable products instead of plastic made.

Overall, Government must make Laws to enforce on wastage recycling by organizations must play their role as well.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

Your position is identifiable: you believe laws can help, but that other organisations also have a role. You address both government action and public awareness, and the examples of taxes on non-recyclable materials and campaigns promoting biodegradable products are relevant to the topic. However, the response does not fully explain the extent to which laws are needed. The claim that governments should enforce recycling is repeated, while the role of international organisations is introduced without explaining how their involvement would make laws more or less necessary. The point about recycling producing “poor quality products” is also unclear and not developed. Explain the mechanisms and weigh the alternatives more directly to make your argument more complete.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable structure, with an introduction, two contrasting body paragraphs and a conclusion. “On one hand” and “On the other hand” help signal the shift between government measures and awareness campaigns, so the overall arrangement is understandable. However, progression within paragraphs is sometimes difficult to follow: the first body paragraph moves from recycling laws to product design and taxes, then repeats the call for strict laws. Some references are unclear, particularly “that might result in poor quality products,” where the connection to the preceding point is not explicit. The conclusion also introduces an awkward relationship between government enforcement and organisations. Use clearer links between each claim and its explanation, and avoid repeating the same point.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You attempt topic-specific vocabulary, including “household waste,” “non-recyclable material,” “imposing taxes,” and “biodegradable products.” These choices show an adequate range for discussing the issue, and the intended meaning is generally recoverable. However, inaccurate word forms, spelling and collocations are noticeable: “legislization amendment,” “wastage,” “compulsary,” “awarness,” and “compaigns” weaken precision. Some phrases are also unnatural, such as “recycle household wastage on strict terms” and “accumulating raw material.” Choose standard expressions and check spelling carefully; for example, “introduce legislation,” “household waste,” and “run campaigns” would communicate your ideas more naturally. Greater precision would make the argument easier to follow.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, including a contrast clause with “whereas” and a relative clause in “items that cannot be recycled.” This gives the response some structural variety. However, errors in sentence construction and grammatical control are frequent enough to make several sentences awkward or unclear. For example, “Environmental activist organization and play role here” lacks a clear subject–verb structure, while “Government only cannot ensure all wastage is recycled that might result…” joins ideas without a clear grammatical relationship. There are also errors in articles, agreement and infinitive construction, as in “to to make people.” Build complex sentences around one clear main clause, then check agreement, articles and punctuation.

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