Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-11-02

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)

Nowadays pollution is increasing day by day and government takes every possible steps they can. Some individuals thind not all of the waste from residents is being recycled, they also mentions that governments had to make legal requirement raise recycling. While it is difficult to maintain society clean and focusing on recycling in daily life is little bit tough but i totally agree that government should make some laws to make people recycle more of their waste.

First of all, I think not every individuals have information regarding recycling process. They just through their wastage into dustbins and not seperate waste which can be recycle. Some times eventhough they do have knolage of it they don't follow rules and mix all type of waste togather. Also, Peoples with job of 9-5 doesn't have time to seperate that waste and put in recyle even if government provides different colours bin in front of them, the just ignore that and move on.

Secondly, if adults are not responding to society rules how can their children can learn it from them. The knoledge of using different bins for different waste is not teach by their parents only. For example, if children want to throw the waste but they don't know which dustbin is for recycle waste and their parents are not interested in teaching them hoe important is recycling. I think government should make some strict rules to wake up this kind of adults so they starts increas recycling more and more.

In conclusion, i must say that if public don't realise about recycling government should make it legal requirment to make people understand the importance of it. If recycling will increase it cause benifit to us by decreasing pollution and usage of plastics.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

Your position is clear: you agree that governments should use laws to increase household recycling, and you give relevant reasons involving public awareness, adults’ behaviour and children learning from parents. The conclusion also links recycling with reducing pollution and plastic use. However, the response only partly develops the question of whether laws are needed: it does not explain what legal requirements or consequences might work, and the point about busy workers is not fully connected to how legislation would change their behaviour. The example about children is relevant but remains hypothetical rather than being supported with a specific example. To strengthen the response, explain how a particular rule could address one of these problems and develop the example further.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The essay has a recognisable overall structure, with an introduction, two body paragraphs and a conclusion. “First of all” and “Secondly” make the main points easy to identify, and the ideas generally follow a sensible order from individual habits to children’s learning. However, connections between some claims are abrupt: the discussion of people working 9–5 does not clearly lead to a specific benefit of making recycling compulsory. Several sentences also join multiple ideas without clear links, while repeated references to “recycling” and “government” make the progression feel somewhat mechanical. Use clearer cause-and-effect links and make each paragraph’s central claim explicit, then show how its examples support that claim.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use relevant topic vocabulary, including “recycling process,” “different colours bin,” “strict rules” and “decreasing pollution,” so the reader can follow the subject. However, the range is limited and several word-choice, spelling and collocation errors reduce precision, such as “through their wastage” and “put in recyle.” Repeated use of “waste,” “recycling” and “government” also limits variety. Aim to learn accurate topic phrases and use them in context—for example, “sort household waste,” “recycling facilities” and “enforce regulations.” Check spelling carefully, especially for key words that recur, and choose natural combinations of words rather than translating phrases directly.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentences, including a conditional question about how children learn from adults and a sentence beginning “While it is difficult…”. However, complex structures are often faulty, and errors in agreement, verb forms, articles and sentence construction occur throughout. For example, “government takes every possible steps” has a subject–verb and plural mismatch, while “if adults are not responding … how can their children can learn” combines incompatible question forms. “The knowledge … is not teach” also uses an incorrect verb form. These errors sometimes make the reader pause to interpret your meaning. Practise building accurate sentences with one main clause and one subordinate clause, then check agreement and verb forms.

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