Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-28

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 or Madam,

I am writing to bring your attention towards this matterof huge amount of litter being leftover by the walkers on the King street park. I want to request your assistance in resloving this issue.

To begin with, I occassionally go out for walking in the countryside park near my house on King street. I love to spend time with nature and King street park is very convienent spot for that. It is just half a kilometer from my house and have a extremely peaceful environment.

But, recently I have been noticing that visitors dump huge amount of litter in the park, which eventually is damaging the beauty of this place. Even though local authorities have placed posters in order to educate visitors about cleanliness but people tend to ignore this message.

I wanted to request you to please publish a post in your newspaper regarding cleaning the garbage in this park, so that people can understand severity of the situation.

I hope you will consider my request and I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours faithfully

Dilpreet Singh

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.5

The letter identifies the problem and gives a relevant reason for writing, and it explains that you enjoy the nearby park for its natural setting and peaceful atmosphere. However, the task is only minimally addressed overall: the description of the litter is vague, limited to “huge amount of litter,” with no examples of what you have seen. The proposed action—publishing a newspaper post about cleaning the garbage—does not clearly explain what readers or authorities should do, so the solution remains underdeveloped. To make the purpose and requests clearer, describe specific rubbish, such as bottles or food wrappers, and suggest practical measures such as more bins, regular clean-ups, or a public awareness campaign.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The letter has a clear overall arrangement: it opens by stating its purpose, gives background about your walks, describes the problem, and ends with a request and polite closing. Paragraphing helps distinguish these stages, and transitions such as “To begin with” and “But, recently” guide the reader through the message. This coherent structure is a strength. To make the progression more natural and cohesive, avoid relying on formulaic transitions and connect the problem directly to the proposed response. For example, explain how the litter affects the park before moving to specific actions. The reference to “this message” is understandable, though naming the posters or their advice would make the connection more precise.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use enough vocabulary to communicate the main topic, including “countryside,” “peaceful environment,” “visitors,” and “local authorities.” There are also attempts at more formal expressions, such as “bring your attention” and “severity of the situation.” However, the range is limited and several word choices or collocations are inaccurate or awkward, including “matterof huge amount,” “leftover by the walkers,” and “cleaning the garbage.” Spelling errors such as “resloving,” “occassionally,” and “convienent” are noticeable. These do not prevent the reader from understanding the letter, but they reduce precision. Use more natural combinations such as “draw your attention to,” “litter left by walkers,” and “remove the rubbish.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The response includes both simple sentences and some attempts at more complex structures, for example, “Even though local authorities have placed posters … but people tend to ignore this message.” The meaning is generally clear, but some sentence structures and grammatical forms are inaccurate. In that example, “even though” and “but” should not be used together; write “Although local authorities have placed posters, people tend to ignore them.” There are also agreement and article errors in “it is just half a kilometer … and have a extremely peaceful environment”; the park “has an extremely peaceful environment.” Punctuation and spacing need attention too, as in “matterof.” More accurate control of these patterns would strengthen the letter.

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

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