Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-11-04

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)

A lot of people believe that not enough of the waste is recycled from homes and they also believes that laws should have been make in order to increase recycling. I agree with that and polite laws should be created to increase the process of recycling.

Many people across the world argues that a very little amount of waste is being recycled as it should be from homes. Why people thinks like that is because a significant amount of waste is being dumped into the rivers,oceans and canals instead of being recycled. And its all happening because of the laziness of some people. For instance they dont bother theirselves to dump the waste into recycle machine which can be far away from their homes sometime but instead they just throw the trash into the dumping site where they shouldnt and it causes the distrubance into the whole process of recylcing. So thats the main reason for other people from the society to argue on this topic that this shouldnt be happened at all.

They also represent one suggestion that there should be some legal laws from the governments in order to increase recycling. Governments should make recycling a legal requirment with some rewards in return if someone obeys it. For instance we can look up to germany where there are some machines which collects empty bottles and in return offers little amount of money which creates a sense of achieving among recyclers which eventually boosts the process and cleans the environment.

According to my opinion i would conclude there are definitely people who claims that recycling should be increased and there should be some legal initiatives from Governments on this topic. However, i also strongly agree with all of that and especially that laws with some returning rewards are much needed for that.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

Your position is clear: you agree that legal measures are needed, and you give a relevant example of Germany’s bottle-return machines. You also explain that convenience and people’s behaviour can affect recycling. However, the response addresses the question only partially because it focuses mainly on why recycling is low and on rewards, rather than explaining how far laws themselves are necessary or considering whether other measures could work. The claim that waste is dumped into rivers and oceans is not clearly connected to household recycling, and the example does not show whether the scheme is legally required. Develop your argument by explaining what a law would require, how it would be enforced, and why voluntary approaches alone may be insufficient.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure, with an introduction, two body paragraphs and a conclusion, and the ideas are generally grouped by topic. The Germany example also gives the second body paragraph a relevant focus. However, progression is limited: the first body paragraph repeats the claim that recycling is insufficient and moves from household laziness to pollution without a clear link. Connectors such as “And,” “So,” and “However” are sometimes used mechanically or do not show the relationship between ideas precisely. References such as “all of that” in the conclusion are vague. Improve the flow by giving each paragraph one clear purpose, using explicit links between cause, example and argument, and referring to specific ideas rather than broad phrases.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some topic-related vocabulary, including “recycled,” “legal requirement,” “rewards,” and “environment,” so the main subject is understandable. However, the range is limited and several word choices or collocations are inaccurate, which can make the reader pause. For example, “polite laws” does not express the intended idea, “recycle machine” is not a natural term, and “creates a sense of achieving” is unclear. There are also noticeable spelling errors, including “distrubance,” “recylcing,” and “requirment.” Aim for precise, natural phrases such as “recycling regulations,” “recycling facilities,” and “a sense of achievement,” and check spelling carefully. This would make your argument clearer and more appropriate in tone.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and longer sentences, including explanations with “because” and examples introduced by “For instance.” However, complex sentences are often faulty, and errors occur frequently enough to make some points harder to follow. Examples include “they also believes,” “Many people … argues,” and “Why people thinks,” where subject–verb agreement is incorrect. Verb forms are also problematic in “should have been make,” and the sentence beginning “For instance they dont bother…” has unclear construction and punctuation. Practise building accurate sentences with one main clause and a clearly attached explanation or example. Check agreement, verb forms, articles and sentence boundaries, then proofread punctuation and capitalisation.

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