Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-11-03

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 is the most crucial thing in the present world. Nowadays, different types of pollution are rising, so many analysts suggest that people need to recycle more of the waste from their homes. However, the interest about recycling is very few for many reasons like cheaper price of new product and no specific law is not imposed yet about recycling. For these reasons, I totally agree with the statement that laws are needed to make people more concerned.

Fast fashion is a trendy term worldwide. Moreover, individuals prefer new items rather than recycling old ones. Moreover, market demand and production have increased. As a result, the garments industry grows rapidly. These industries cause water, air, and sound pollution. For example, in Bangladesh, nearly 4000 garmets factory established within the past two decades, just to fulfill the demand. These industries pollute our country, and we have faced a huge water shortage for the past few years. Finally, if recycling happened in the Western world this pollution heppended very lesser than present scenario.

The second reason is the lack of proper application of rules and regulations about recycling. People sometimes don't follow the rules when there is no punishment. So, if the government applies a dedicated law for recycling, this will be a magical decision to increase recycling. For example, many people in the past days didn't follow traffic rules, but now when police start to implicate laws and fine, the trends changed and maximum people follow the rules.

In conclusion, to stop pollution, recycling is needed, and without banning of the trend of fast fashion and implementing new laws, we can not increase the trend of recycling.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

Your position is clear: you agree that laws are needed, and you give two relevant reasons—consumer preference for new clothing and weak enforcement of recycling rules. The examples about garment production in Bangladesh and traffic fines help illustrate these points. However, the response only partly answers how far laws are needed: it argues strongly for legislation but does not consider whether laws alone are sufficient or what other measures might help. The link between fast fashion, household recycling, and the proposed legal requirement also needs clearer explanation. Develop each reason with a more direct connection to household waste and explain how a specific law, such as mandatory sorting or fines, would change behaviour.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure, with an introduction, two body paragraphs and a conclusion, and the main ideas are generally easy to identify. Paragraphing also separates the reasons. However, progression within paragraphs is sometimes unclear: the discussion moves from fast fashion to garment factories and water shortages without fully showing how these points support household recycling laws. Linking phrases such as “Moreover” are repeated, while “Finally” does not clearly signal the relationship between the preceding example and the conclusion. The final paragraph introduces banning fast fashion, which has not been developed as a proposed solution. Use more precise transitions and make each paragraph follow a clear sequence: claim, explanation, evidence, and link to the question.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use some topic-related vocabulary, including “recycle,” “pollution,” “market demand,” “rules and regulations,” and “traffic rules,” which makes the subject clear. There are also attempts at more specific language, such as “dedicated law” and “water shortage.” However, word choice and collocation are often inaccurate or awkward, and spelling errors are noticeable: “interest about recycling is very few,” “garmets,” and “heppended” may distract the reader. Phrases such as “magical decision” and “the trends changed” are imprecise in this context. Aim for natural, accurate combinations and check spelling carefully. For example, describe recycling participation as “low” and say that enforcement “led to greater compliance.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt a mixture of simple and complex sentences, using clauses with “so,” “because,” and “when,” as well as conditional phrasing such as “if the government applies a dedicated law.” This gives the response some structural variety, and the overall meaning is usually recoverable. However, errors occur frequently in sentence construction and grammatical forms. For example, “the interest … is very few” has faulty agreement and structure, while “if recycling happened … this pollution heppended very lesser” does not form a clear conditional sentence. “Nearly 4000 garmets factory established” also lacks the appropriate plural and verb form. Practise accurate subject–verb agreement, articles, plurals, and conditional structures, and proofread each sentence for a complete, correctly formed clause.

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