Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-10-28

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)

many people say that not all the houses waste is recycled . which they claim that governments should rise it by making it as mandatory law . i totally believe that the governments should take actions , because people will be afraid to break the law especially if it enrolls financial fines , which will rise the recycling more . also by doing that , more people will be fimiliar and accept the idea of recycling , which in turn will help the governments to reduce the amount of money spent on treating the domestic waste .

overall, the houses waste is ncreasing year by year , which it demand for more actions to recycel it . but the people seems to care less about it which cose the gevrnment money and lead to toxic envernmt . and one way to treat this is bay making it a legal requirement . for example countries need to put financial fines in the human waste that are not recycled or on the families that they dont want to do it . this can lean many peopl to fo it In spite of them , because if they break the law that going to cost them a lot . as result individuals will tend to collect thier rubnish weekly or even daily to avoid governmental problms .

on the ither hand , taking such action will allow a larg number of people to be more familiar with the idea of recycling and accept it as a part of thier day routin . such as many neighborhoods in different residental , will gather each week at specific place only for recycling the domestic waste and put them thier . they will have the ability to meet thier neighbors and chat and spend with them at the same time They get rid of the negations in the right way . as result the Financial expenses spent by the country to collect them and burn them in bad way , as well as protecting the envirenment from the toxicity of it .

in conclusion , many clain that the domestic waste coming from homes are not recycled enough , which the only wat to achieve it is by the government to make it a legal requirment . i thing they should take action about it , especially by puting financial fines to each one that stand against the law , by them avoiding that loss , it will increase the amount of people who tend to recycle . as well aa makin them more familiar with the idea ,leading to a reduce in the financial expenses spent by the country to get rid of them , and protecting the enverenment .

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response6.0
Coherence and Cohesion5.5
Lexical Resource5.0
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.0
Overall5.5

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

Your position is clear: you support legal requirements, particularly financial penalties, and you explain that these could encourage recycling and reduce public spending on waste treatment. The response addresses the question and gives relevant supporting points, including the example of neighbours gathering to sort household waste. However, some ideas are more fully explained than others. The claim that fines will make people recycle is repeated, while the neighbourhood example is not clearly connected to how a law would bring it about. Develop this link and explain how penalties could be applied fairly or alongside practical support, such as providing separate bins. This would make your reasoning more complete and persuasive.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has an overall structure, with an introduction, two body paragraphs and a conclusion, and the main position remains consistent. You also use linking expressions such as “for example,” “on the other hand” and “as a result.” However, progression within paragraphs is sometimes difficult to follow: the second body paragraph moves from fines to weekly rubbish collection and then to neighbours meeting, without clearly showing how each point connects. Some linking phrases are repeated, and references such as “them” and “it” do not always make clear whether you mean waste, fines or expenses. Organise each paragraph around one main reason, then use clear references and transitions to show how the supporting example develops that reason.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You attempt vocabulary relevant to the topic, including “legal requirement,” “financial fines,” “domestic waste” and “toxic environment.” These choices show that you can discuss the issue beyond very basic terms. However, spelling errors and inaccurate word choices are noticeable and sometimes make the reader work to understand your meaning, as in “fimiliar,” “recycel,” “negations” and “enverenment.” Some combinations are also unnatural, such as “rise the recycling” and “financial fines in the human waste.” Build accuracy by checking spelling and learning common collocations for waste management, such as “increase recycling rates,” “impose fines for non-compliance” and “sort household waste.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentences, including clauses with “because,” “which” and “if,” so there is some variety in your sentence construction. However, complex sentences are often not controlled successfully, and errors in sentence boundaries, agreement, articles and verb forms can make relationships between ideas unclear. For example, “which they claim that governments should rise it” combines structures incorrectly, while “the people seems to care less” has a subject–verb agreement error. Punctuation and capitalisation are also inconsistent, with several long sentences joined without clear boundaries. Practise writing shorter, complete sentences first, then add subordinate clauses while checking that each clause has a clear subject and correctly formed verb.

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.