Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-26

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 5.5)

Dear Sir,

I am writing letter to let you know that garbage littering has been increasing in village side by visitors.

Honesty, it has become a daily routine for me to walk around uillage area, away from traffic. Because i just need some free time from my hectic schedule away from noises in nature, owing to which i prefer to hang around for some time in countryside around my home.

while enjoying walking, i witnessed people who Come there to walk often carry some eatables like, snacks, drinks and offer the consumption of those products, they just throw away the wrapper onto the strets.

According to me, "no litter here" signs should be installed on the streets substantial fines should be imposed on the litters,so that they do not just do it because it has been writing on the boards additinally they should do it as their duty toward society. looking forward for favourable actions.

Yours sincerely,

Chris pell.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You address all three points: you explain that you walk in the countryside near home to escape traffic and noise, describe discarded food wrappers, and suggest signs and fines. The purpose of writing to the newspaper is clear. However, some parts are less fully developed than others. The description focuses mainly on wrappers and could include other examples or explain how widespread the litter is. The proposed measures are relevant, but the reasoning about why signs alone may not work is difficult to follow, and the suggestion that fines be imposed needs clearer explanation of who would enforce them. Develop these details so the reader can better understand both the scale of the problem and how your solutions would help.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The letter has a recognisable structure: an opening purpose, a paragraph about your walks, a description of litter, and a final paragraph with proposed action. This gives the reader an overall sense of progression, and the closing is appropriate. Some links between ideas are less clear, particularly in the long final paragraph, where the suggestions, explanation of signs, and appeal for action run together. The transition into the litter description is also abrupt. Use separate paragraphs for the problem and solutions, and connect ideas with clear, accurate phrases such as “To address this” or “In addition.” Check that pronouns and references clearly identify what they refer to, so the argument is easier to follow.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use enough vocabulary to communicate the main ideas, including “hectic schedule,” “countryside,” “substantial fines,” and “duty toward society.” These choices show an attempt to use more specific language. However, several word choices and collocations are inaccurate or awkward, such as “garbage littering,” “offer the consumption,” and “fines should be imposed on the litters.” Spelling and word-form errors, including “strets” and “additinally,” also reduce precision. Choose natural expressions for the context—for example, “litter has increased,” “consume their food and drinks,” and “fines should be imposed on people who litter.” More accurate collocations would make your message sound clearer and more appropriate for a newspaper letter.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentences, including the explanation beginning “Because I just need some free time” and the sentence describing walkers and their rubbish. However, the complex structures are not consistently controlled, and some errors make the relationships between ideas difficult to follow. For example, “I am writing letter” is missing an article, while “signs should be installed … fines should be imposed” joins two independent clauses without suitable punctuation or a conjunction. Capitalisation is also inconsistent, as in “while” and “i.” Aim for complete sentences, use articles accurately, and divide long sentences when they contain several separate suggestions. These changes would improve accuracy while allowing you to retain a range of sentence forms.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.