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)

In today's era, need to recycle products increased immensely and many peoply believe that it is not worth it to reused the products at home and government should make legal policies in order to enhance recycling. As per my perspective, I strongly agree that legislation should make people more awared and they will show more seriousness to this matter.

Firsly, Afer considerabale actions done by authorities, citizens will became more aware and will mindfully use products. Governments should invest funds on campaign awareness and setting proper recycle bins all around the public places so that people can use them instead of disposing things into dustbin.This will ease the procedure of recycling because material which can be reused is already filtered in large amount. For example if a person drinks cola while shopping at mall, he can throw his bottle into recycle bin instead of garbage collector box and if more public will make this in practice this will enhance the significant rise in recycling.As a result people feel it more convenient to use recycle methods instead of disposing products randomly.

Secondly, government should add financial penalties on a person to bring more attention of public to this issue. if authorities make such laws this will also help them to collect funds and use those funds in same domain. In this ways people will be more informed and show some seriousness about this matter.

In contrast, people also should take actions independently because this also benefits them in long run because it will have less effect on environmental pollution and recycled materials will cost less and will be available in large amount in a market.

In conclusion, Authorities strict actions can make people more informed about recycling and they have to follow rules to avoid penalties and thats how this make it their habit and whole society can get benefit from it.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

Your position is clear: you strongly support legislation as a way to increase recycling, and you address the role of both government and individuals. The suggestions about public recycling bins and financial penalties are relevant, and the cola-bottle example helps illustrate how convenient facilities could change behaviour. However, the discussion of penalties is brief and does not explain how they would be enforced or why they would be effective. The point that recycling benefits individuals and the environment is also introduced only briefly, so the response develops some parts of the task more fully than others. To strengthen the argument, explain the practical impact of each measure and connect your examples more directly to why laws are needed, rather than awareness measures alone.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, two paragraphs focused on government action, a contrasting point about individual responsibility, and a conclusion. Sequencing words such as “Firstly,” “Secondly,” “In contrast,” and “In conclusion” make the overall progression easy to follow. However, some links feel mechanical, and the relationship between laws and the first paragraph’s proposals—campaigns and recycling bins—is not always explicit. The second body paragraph is short and its ideas are not extended, while the contrast paragraph introduces a related point without fully connecting it to the main argument. Improve cohesion by using clearer references between sentences and explaining how each paragraph supports your position on legal requirements.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use vocabulary relevant to the topic, including “legislation,” “financial penalties,” “recycled materials,” and “environmental pollution,” and the meaning is generally understandable. There are also attempts at more formal phrasing, such as “in order to enhance recycling.” However, spelling and word-choice errors are noticeable, including “peoply,” “awared,” “recycle methods,” and “in same domain.” Some combinations are unnatural, for example “campaign awareness” and “significant rise in recycling,” which reduce precision. Aim to learn common collocations for this topic and check spelling and word forms carefully. More accurate phrasing would make your argument sound clearer and more natural without requiring unusually advanced vocabulary.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and complex sentences, including a conditional structure in “if authorities make such laws” and a reason clause beginning “so that people can use them.” This gives the response some variety, and the main ideas can usually be understood. However, errors in verb forms, agreement, articles, and sentence boundaries occur across the response. For example, “citizens will became more aware” should use the base form after “will,” and “if more public will make this in practice” has an unclear and faulty clause structure. Capitalisation after full stops and punctuation between sentences also need attention. Practise building accurate conditional sentences and checking each sentence for a clear subject and correctly formed verb.

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