Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-10-20

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)

Few individuals believe that insufficient amount of waste from households is rececyled. They claim that governments imposing recycle a specific legal law is the only way to uphold recycling. Recycling waste is a benificial way of reducing land pollution in this contemporary society. In this essay, I will present my opinion about to what extent laws are required to make people recycle more.

Few people are of the thought that It is only the government's responsibility to increase recycling by imposing laws and making it a legal requirement. Governments hold an authority over people, it can impose laws and regulations to uphold the well being of the society. For example a government can impose a law where no house is permissible to waste products and fine people to maintain strictness in the law and avoid any mishaps. Governments are responsible for looking after the environment of a country, welfare of public and well being of the society. Making people recycle sufficient amount of waste can help uplifting the environment of a country. Although governments play a vital role, It is not merely their responsibility to look after the environment.

Although laws and regulations are the cornerstone of a country, it is not the only way to increase receycling in the homes. Individuals and private companies can collaborate to raise awareness about the advantages of waste recycle. Pioneers can invent more ways to recycle waste, they can educate people that how to recycle waste properly in a way that it is still usable and benificial for environement.

In my opinion, although laws are needed to make people recycle more of their waste, it is not the only way. It is acceptable to a certain extent. I believe that the ideal way should be if individuals and governments act together. For example laws can be imposed with minimal fines so that public do not consider it a burden over them.

To conclude things up, both public and governments should perform their roles for the well being of the environment. Governments can impose laws while society should act upon it and raise awareness among themselves.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You address the question and give a consistent, qualified position: laws are needed to some extent, but cooperation and awareness also matter. The conclusion restates this view, and the examples of fines and public education are relevant. However, some points are less fully developed than others. For instance, you say governments can impose rules and that individuals and companies can raise awareness, but you do not explain in detail how these approaches would change household behaviour or why one might work better than the other. The example of a law making households unable to “waste products” is also unclear as a practical recycling measure. Develop each main reason with a clearer explanation or a specific example to make your argument more convincing.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear overall structure, with an introduction, separate paragraphs for government action and other approaches, and a conclusion. The progression from laws to shared responsibility is easy to follow, and linking expressions such as “Although” and “To conclude” help signal the argument. At times, however, connections are repetitive or mechanical: “Although” begins two successive body paragraphs, and the conclusion largely repeats the position rather than drawing the main reasons together. Some references are also unclear, such as “it” in “Governments hold an authority over people, it can impose laws,” where the pronoun does not agree clearly with the plural subject. Use a wider range of transitions and make links between claims and examples more explicit.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some topic-related vocabulary, including “legal requirement,” “regulations,” “raise awareness,” and “environment,” which makes the subject clear. However, the range is limited by repeated use of “laws,” “government,” “waste,” and “recycle,” and several word choices or collocations are inaccurate or unnatural. Examples include “recycle a specific legal law,” “waste recycle,” and “uphold recycling”; these make parts of the argument less precise. There are also spelling errors such as “rececyled,” “benificial,” and “environement.” Aim for accurate, natural combinations such as “introduce mandatory recycling rules,” “recycle household waste,” and “promote recycling,” and proofread spelling carefully. More precise vocabulary would help express your ideas with greater flexibility.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt a mix of simple and complex sentences, including concession clauses such as “Although laws and regulations are the cornerstone of a country…” and conditional phrasing about fines. Meaning is generally understandable, but some grammatical errors remain. For example, “Governments hold an authority over people, it can impose laws” joins two clauses incorrectly and uses a singular pronoun for a plural subject. In “Pioneers can invent more ways to recycle waste, they can educate people,” the clauses are also joined with a comma. Other issues include “people that how to recycle,” which needs a different clause structure, and inconsistent capitalisation of “It.” Improve control of sentence boundaries, agreement, and clause patterns; using a full stop or a conjunction to connect independent clauses will make the argument clearer.

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