Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · 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 6.0)

Some individuals believe to promote recycling government must make it compulsory for everyone. I believe that government should enforce recycling laws for everyone as it contributes to sustainable environment.

Recycling law enforcing will play pivotal role in a healthy ecosystem. By making the recycling laws compulsory for people will largely benefit the society and reduce global warming. To make people follow these law government should install recycling bins in the public spaces and especially plastic recycling should be encouraged as plastic contributes to most pollution. For example, for every plastic bottle recycled in Germany people get 25 cents or more depending on the size of the bottle and it proved to be a smart way in encouraging people for recycling. To cope with massive population government must take recycling seriously and fine people who discourage recycling.

Although, it is not feasible to make recycling legal requirement in many countries because recycling plants requires a huge capital to install them and need proper manteinance. For example, countries that fall in the region of South Asia or Africa are fighting to meet basic human necessities such as clean water, whereas governments in these countries lack budget to install huge recycling plants.

Overall, governments should make recycling legal where possible as it contributes to a sustainable envionment and mitigate pollution, however; recycling plants need high capital to install them which can not be overlooked.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response6.0
Coherence and Cohesion6.0
Lexical Resource6.0
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.5
Overall6.0

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

Your position is clear: you support legal requirements, while recognising that implementation may be difficult where governments lack resources. You address both the case for laws and a limitation, and the German bottle-deposit example gives relevant support. However, some points are asserted rather than fully explained. For instance, you say recycling laws will reduce global warming, but do not show how household recycling would produce that effect; the claim that governments should fine people who discourage recycling is also not developed. The discussion of poorer countries is relevant but could distinguish between making recycling a legal duty and providing the infrastructure needed to comply. The response is 19 words below the required minimum, so it also needs further development.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear overall structure: an introduction states your view, the body paragraphs present benefits and a practical limitation, and the conclusion restates your position. The example about Germany is placed appropriately within the argument. However, progression within paragraphs is sometimes abrupt: the move from recycling bins and plastic pollution to population size and fines is not fully connected. Linking phrases such as “Although” and “For example” help, but some connections are mechanical or awkward; “Although” at the start of the second body paragraph is followed by a comma and a complete clause, making the relationship less smooth. Develop each paragraph around one main point and use clearer links between the claim, explanation and example.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range of topic vocabulary, including “sustainable environment,” “ecosystem,” “recycling plants,” and “capital,” and the meaning is generally clear. There are also attempts at more formal phrasing, such as “pivotal role” and “legal requirement.” Some word choices and collocations are inaccurate or unnatural, however: “recycling law enforcing” and “discourage recycling” do not express your intended ideas precisely, while “massive population” is vague in this context. Spelling errors such as “manteinance” and “envionment” also reduce accuracy. Aim for natural combinations such as “enforcing recycling laws,” “fail to recycle,” and “rapid population growth,” and check spelling carefully.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and complex sentence forms, including a conditional structure in “To make people follow these law…” and a concession in “Although, it is not feasible…”. The main ideas remain understandable, but some grammatical errors recur. For example, “By making the recycling laws compulsory for people will largely benefit” has an incomplete construction; write “Making recycling laws compulsory would benefit…” Also, “these law” needs plural agreement, and “recycling plants requires” needs a plural verb. Articles and punctuation need attention in “a healthy ecosystem” and “however;” in the conclusion. More accurate control of these structures, alongside varied sentence patterns, would strengthen the response.

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

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