Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-10-26

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)

Recycling has been neglecting by most of the individuals, people propose that household wastes are not getting recycled, and the only measure to increase recycling is for government authorities to make it a mandatory legal law. I advocate with the view that laws should be applied to make individuals recycle their waste and protect the environment.

Recycling is one of the most effective measure to make efficient use of waste, throwing it unnecessary on roads,and public places can affect the environment diversely, spreading diseases and hygiene problem. People ought to be careless and throw their household waste from the kitchen, store room, bathroom carelessly affects the environment and it can even put animals life on edge.Moreover handling of such waste by municipal corporation could become extremely tough to carry it and dump in some safe environment away from the residential area, water and air quality does get affected by this sometimes which is definitely detrimental and could cause advese effects.

Government should take some implications preventing people to recycle the waste they can at home safe guarding the environment, municipal corporation should personally regulate the rules by monitioring the residential places and making people pay fine if wastes are thrown. In addition there could be some kind of trash which cant be recycled at home, to this people should make the trash covered properly and dump it in the garbage . These laws can help hinder the problem and it can protect the environment perfectly.

In conclusion, government authorities can make individuals recycle their trash by providing the guidelines and encouraging to protect the environment which could help every person breathe,drink and live more peacefully in the environment

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You take a clear position in favour of legal requirements, stating that laws should be applied to make people recycle and protect the environment. You also give relevant reasons, including pollution, disease, risks to animals, and the difficulty of waste management. However, the response only partly develops the question of how necessary laws are: it mainly describes the harms of waste and proposes fines and monitoring, without explaining why legal enforcement is more effective than education, incentives, or improved collection services. The point about waste that cannot be recycled at home is also unclear. Develop one or two reasons with specific examples and explain how they support your view on the role of laws.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure, with an introduction, supporting paragraphs, and a conclusion. Ideas generally relate to the topic, and linking expressions such as “Moreover” and “In addition” help signal additions. However, progression within paragraphs is not always clear: the second paragraph moves from littering to disease, animals, municipal handling, and air and water quality in a long sequence. Some connections are difficult to follow, particularly “to this people should make the trash covered properly.” The conclusion also introduces guidelines and encouragement without clearly summarising the earlier case for legal requirements. Use shorter, more focused paragraphs and make each sentence’s relationship to the main point explicit.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You attempt a range of topic-related vocabulary, including “mandatory,” “municipal corporation,” “residential area,” and “detrimental.” This shows an effort to discuss waste management beyond basic terms. However, inaccurate word choice and collocation are frequent enough to make some phrases difficult to interpret, such as “Recycling has been neglecting,” “some implications preventing people,” and “protect the environment perfectly.” There are also spelling errors, including “advese” and “monitioring,” and repeated reliance on “waste,” “environment,” and “people.” Aim for precise, natural combinations and check spelling; for example, distinguish between recycling waste, disposing of rubbish, and enforcing regulations.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, including clauses linked with “which” and “if.” However, complex sentences are often faulty, and frequent errors can make the reader work to understand the intended meaning. Examples include “Recycling has been neglecting” and “People ought to be careless and throw their household waste … affects the environment,” where verb forms and clause structure are not controlled. Agreement and articles are also problematic in “one of the most effective measure” and “animals life.” Punctuation is inconsistent, with missing spaces after commas and full stops and several sentences joined into long strings. Practise building complete sentences around one main clause, then add subordinate clauses with clear subjects and verbs.

See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.