Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-10-15

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)

Recyling has become a growing concern for environmental protection. Increasingly, people are questioning about the initiatives taken by government for recyling of waste products from homes. It is often argued that there must be laws imposed at state level to encourge recyling. In this essay, I will dicuss why not only laws but also individual's contribution is significant to adress this concering issue.

Not all of the waste form home is recycled. A very common practice includes throwing off the waste from homes in open areas. Most of the time, people just dumb their wastes and extras which result is the formation of landfills, without having knowlege about the environmental consequences. Furthermore, these products are hazardous for equatic environment. The materials such as plastics, thermocoal, aluminium foils and papers from landfills run through water streams and effect equatic life.

The role of government is worth considering. There must be proper legal guidelines and framwork related to the waste disposal. For example, natives must be fined for violating laws same as they are are charged for trafiic rules. Building on this, legal awareness compaigns regarding recyling can educate individuals. For example, in many developed countries the 3R (reduce, recycle, regain) rules are implemented by government. Additionally, introducing rewarding initiatives schemes can be benificial. For example, in Germany one gets money for puttong each plastic product in recyling vendor machine.

In conclusion, the waste product form homes must be recycled to reduce environmental pollution, save energy and resources. The legal framework intoduced by governments is mandatory in recent era to protect the planet.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You address the question by supporting government laws and adding that individual participation and incentives also matter. The examples of fines for illegal disposal and Germany’s recycling-vending machines help make your position relevant. However, the extent of your view could be stated more precisely: the introduction says both laws and individual contribution are significant, while the conclusion calls a legal framework “mandatory,” without explaining whether laws are essential or simply one effective measure. Some points also need fuller development. For instance, you mention the environmental harm caused by landfill waste, but do not clearly connect this to how legal requirements would increase household recycling. Explain the likely impact of enforcement and support your examples with a little more detail.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear overall arrangement: an introduction, a paragraph on the problem, a paragraph on government action, and a conclusion. Linking expressions such as “Furthermore,” “For example,” and “In conclusion” help readers follow the main stages. However, progression within paragraphs is sometimes mechanical, particularly where several examples are introduced in succession. The relationship between the discussion of landfill pollution and the argument for legal requirements could also be made more explicit. Some references are unclear, such as “these products” after a list of waste materials, and “Building on this” does not clearly show how awareness campaigns follow from legal guidelines. Use more precise links and develop each paragraph around a clear central claim.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some relevant topic vocabulary, including “environmental consequences,” “landfills,” “legal guidelines,” and “environmental pollution,” which helps communicate the subject. There are also attempts at less common expressions, such as “legal framework” and “rewarding initiatives.” However, spelling errors are frequent and sometimes distract the reader: examples include “Recyling,” “encourge,” “knowlege,” and “benificial.” Several word choices or collocations are also inaccurate, including “throwing off the waste,” “dumb their wastes,” and “recycling vendor machine.” The range is sufficient to discuss the topic, but repeated errors limit precision. Check spelling carefully and learn common collocations for waste management, enforcement, and recycling schemes.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, including a relative clause in “which result is the formation of landfills” and a conditional-style example about fines. Most of the main ideas remain understandable, but some sentence structures are faulty or awkward. For example, “people are questioning about the initiatives” uses an incorrect pattern, and “Most of the time, people just dumb their wastes and extras which result is…” does not form a clear grammatical relationship between the clauses. There are also errors in agreement and sentence construction, as in “the 3R … rules are implemented,” where the wording around the acronym needs clearer control. Practise building accurate complex sentences and check clause links, articles, and agreement.

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