Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-10-16

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 6.5)

Nowadays, a large amount of household waste is not recycled properly. some people believe that making recycling compulsory by law is the only effective solution. I strongly agree that government laws are necessary to encourage people to recycle more waste. my justification will be provided in the upcoming paragraphs. along with a relevant example.

Initially, it is widely believed that the main reason why laws are needed is that they can make people more responsible for waste management. without strict rules, mint individuals may throw away plastic, paper and glass instead for people who do not separate their waste, they will be more likely to follow recycling rules. for example, households can be required to use separate bins for different types of waste. as a result, the amount of rubbish sent to landfills can be reduced.

Another significant reason is that recycling helps protect the environment and conserve natural resources are needed to produce new products, which also reduces pollution. moreover, governments can introduce recycling programmers and provide suitable facilities to make the process easier. door instance, recycling paper can reduce the number of trees cut down for manufacturing purposes. therefore, legal requirements, combined with public awareness, can create a cleaner and healthier environment.

in conclusion, i strongly believe that laws are necessary to increase recycling because they encourage responsible behavior and protect the environment. however, governments should also educate the public and provide proper recycling facilities to achieve better results. furthermore, strict enforcement of these laws can ensure long term improvements in recycling habits. this will benefit both present and future generations.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

Your position is clear from the introduction to the conclusion: you strongly support laws as a way to increase household recycling. Both main points are relevant—rules can encourage responsible waste sorting, and recycling can protect resources and the environment. The examples of separate bins and recycling paper help illustrate these points, and you also acknowledge that education and facilities should accompany legal requirements. However, the explanation of how laws change behaviour is brief, and the environmental paragraph shifts from the need for laws to the general benefits of recycling without fully showing how legislation produces those benefits. Develop each claim with a clearer cause-and-effect explanation or a specific example of enforcement to make the argument more fully supported.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response has a clear overall structure, with an introduction, two body paragraphs and a conclusion. The ideas generally progress from the role of rules to environmental benefits, and signposts such as “Initially,” “Another significant reason” and “In conclusion” make the organisation easy to follow. Some linking is mechanical, however, and a few transitions do not accurately connect the ideas. For example, “as a result” follows the separate-bin example but the link to reduced landfill waste could be explained more explicitly. The opening also contains a fragment—“along with a relevant example”—which interrupts the flow. Use fewer formulaic transitions and connect each example directly to the claim it supports; this would make cohesion more flexible and natural.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range of topic vocabulary, including “household waste,” “waste management,” “landfills,” “conserve natural resources” and “public awareness.” These choices make the subject clear, and some phrases show an attempt to use more formal language. However, several inaccurate or misspelled expressions weaken precision: “mint individuals” appears to be an unintended word, “door instance” should be “for instance,” and “recycling programmers” does not convey the intended meaning of programmes. “My justification will be provided in the upcoming paragraphs” is also unnecessarily wordy. Aim for accurate collocations and proofread spelling, while choosing direct expressions such as “the following reasons support my view.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

There is a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, including a conditional structure in “without strict rules … they will be more likely to follow recycling rules” and a relative clause in “resources are needed to produce new products.” Most of the meaning remains understandable, but some grammatical errors and punctuation problems are present. The opening includes the fragment “along with a relevant example,” and the sentence beginning “Another significant reason is that recycling helps protect the environment and conserve natural resources are needed” has a faulty structure: the clause after “resources” is not properly connected. Several sentences also begin with lowercase letters after full stops, and the capitalisation of “I” is inconsistent. Check sentence boundaries and clause connections carefully.

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