Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-10-13

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, individuals polluted environment in several ways. It is argued by individuals that majority of the waste from homes is not recycled while others believe that when government should strict action against individuals so it increased in recycling. I strongly agree with this statement because strict action has become increase in recycling.

To commence with, there are several reasons associated with it. The first and foremost point is, follow rules. To explain it, when government apply strict law, so individuals are more likely to recycle if it is compulsory. Moreover, not only it reduces the amount of waste but also decrease in pollution. For example, in homes individuals should required to need added some different bins according to wastes like separate bin for liquid waste and separate for plastic waste. Therefore, it helps to save environments like to reuse glass and plastic after recycling.

On the other hand, there are numerous benefits. The most prominent point is, public awareness. To elaborate, individuals should educate other people about the benefits of recycling methods. In addition, government should organise some camps and aware individuals about environment and also provide recycling bins in residental areas. For instance, in Japan teachers teach students how to protect the environment and how to recycle plastic. However, it helps to reduce pollution and decrease in spreading diseases.

In conclusion, after taking all aspects into consideration, I would like to emphasize that it has some valid points. Although when government can fine on people who repeatedly ignore recycline lawa and it causes reduce in waste. I believe that individuals should incourage other people to save environment and organise camps to aware students.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You give a clear general view that government action can increase recycling, and you include relevant points about compulsory rules, fines, public education and providing bins. The examples of separating household waste and teaching recycling in Japan help connect your ideas to the topic. However, the response only partly answers the question about the extent to which laws are needed: the second body paragraph focuses on awareness campaigns, but does not explain whether these can work without laws or how they complement legal requirements. Several claims, such as strict action increasing recycling, are repeated rather than developed with explanation or evidence. State your position more precisely and compare the role of laws with voluntary measures, supporting each point with a clear example.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

Your response has a recognisable introduction, two body paragraphs and a conclusion, and the paragraphs broadly group related ideas. Linking expressions such as “Moreover,” “On the other hand” and “In conclusion” show an attempt to guide the reader. However, progression is limited because the second paragraph is introduced as a contrast but largely adds further benefits of recycling rather than presenting a clear opposing view. Some connections are mechanical or unclear, as in “Therefore, it helps to save environments like to reuse glass and plastic.” The conclusion also combines fines and awareness without clearly showing how these support your position. Build each paragraph around one main claim, explain it in sequence, and use linking phrases only where the relationship between ideas is clear.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use topic-related vocabulary, including “recycled,” “pollution,” “compulsory,” “public awareness” and “recycling bins,” so the reader can identify the subject and your main points. There are also attempts to use more formal expressions, such as “To elaborate” and “taking all aspects into consideration.” However, the range is limited and several word choices or collocations are inaccurate or repetitive: “strict action,” “decrease in spreading diseases,” and “aware individuals” do not express the intended ideas naturally. Spelling and word-form errors, including “residental,” “recycline” and “incourage,” also reduce control. Learn common collocations for legislation and waste management, and check spelling and word forms during revision.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, including “not only it reduces the amount of waste but also decrease in pollution” and a conditional idea about government laws. This shows an effort to vary sentence structure, but complex attempts are often faulty, and errors occur frequently enough to make some sentences difficult to follow. For example, “when government apply strict law, so individuals are more likely” has problems with clause structure, articles and subject–verb agreement; “individuals should required to need” is also grammatically incomplete. Agreement and verb forms are inconsistent in “it helps” and “decrease.” Practise building accurate sentences with one main clause and a correctly formed subordinate clause, then check articles, agreement and verb forms.

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