Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-25

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

You enjoy walking in the countryside near your home. However, you are noticing that there is more and more litter left there by other walkers.

Write a letter to your local newspaper. In your letter

• say why you enjoy walking and where

• describe the litter you have seen on your walks

• suggest what might be done about the problem

You do NOT need to write any addresses.

Begin your letter as follows:

Dear Sir or Madam,

Student answer (Band 6.5)

Dear Sir/Madam,

Hope you are doing well. I am writing this letter to inform you that I have noticed more and more litter left in the countryside near my home by other walkers.

First of all, I would like to say that I enjoy walking in the countryside near my home because it's a good way to keep my body relaxed and refreshed. I spend some time with my friends there and talk about our daily lives.

In addition to this, I have noticed that the area is becoming polluted. There are many plastic bottles, cans, food wrappers and so on. I think local authorities should take action on this and put some trash bins there and motivate individuals to use these bins to throw away the garbage. Moreover, they need to start a campaign to clean the countryside once a week.

I hope your newspaper raise awareness of this problem and encourage residents to protect our countryside.

Your faithfully,

Ramanjeet Kaur

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.0

You address all three points and maintain a clear, appropriate purpose for writing to a newspaper. The reason for walking is explained through relaxation and spending time with friends, and the litter is made specific with examples such as “plastic bottles, cans, food wrappers.” You also propose practical responses: installing bins, encouraging their use, and organising weekly clean-ups. These ideas are relevant and sufficiently extended to make the letter effective. To strengthen the response further, develop the impact of the litter or explain how the newspaper could help promote the proposed actions, rather than relying mainly on general recommendations. The closing request to raise awareness supports your purpose, though it could be more directly linked to the solutions.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 7.0

The letter is organised in a clear sequence: purpose, enjoyment of walking, description of the problem and proposed action, followed by a closing appeal. Paragraphing helps the reader distinguish these stages, and linking phrases such as “First of all,” “In addition to this,” and “Moreover” make the progression easy to follow. The ideas within the litter paragraph are also logically connected. Some transitions are a little formulaic, however, and “In addition to this” introduces the problem rather than adding to the preceding point in a particularly precise way. For a more flexible flow, use fewer signposting phrases and connect related ideas more naturally, while retaining the clear paragraph structure.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

Your vocabulary is adequate for the topic and includes useful specific items such as “plastic bottles,” “food wrappers,” “local authorities,” and “raise awareness.” These choices make the issue clear, and the reader can understand your suggestions without difficulty. However, some expressions are imprecise or unnatural, including “keep my body relaxed and refreshed,” “take action on this,” and “throw away the garbage.” The repeated general terms “problem” and “countryside” also limit variety. Aim for more natural collocations and precise wording—for example, describe the walk as helping you “unwind,” and refer to “installing litter bins” or “disposing of waste responsibly.” This would make the letter sound more fluent and appropriately formal.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.5

You use a mix of simple and more developed sentence forms, including the reason clause “because it’s a good way…” and the coordinated suggestions about bins and a clean-up campaign. Most of the message remains clear, and punctuation generally supports the meaning. Some grammatical errors remain. “Hope you are doing well” omits the subject, while “I hope your newspaper raise awareness” has a subject–verb agreement error; use “raises.” The sign-off “Your faithfully” also needs the possessive form “Yours faithfully.” There is some control of sentence structure, but greater accuracy in complete clauses, agreement and conventional letter forms would make the writing more polished.

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