Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-31

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 this letter to draw your attention to a very serious problem of littering in the most beautiful outskirts of city. And want to suggest few things that could be done for this problem.

As I live near the countryside and enjoy walking there on weekends when its off duty. Before there were very few people visited this scenic place, but over the time many people come around to enjoy this beautiful area and spend there weekends on coutryside. It has a magneficient walking track over the hill to the river.

Many new visitors who are coming to this place don't take proper care of their leftovers and leave behind a bulk of trash which is causing polution and disturbing the beauty of this place. Many old visitors tried to collect this trash by themselves, but now its becoming imposible for them to mange it.

I would like your newspaper to write articles and posters to be displayed for awareness of the people to take good care of the site. As its natural beauty is affecting by such waste all around the track. Especially for the wild animals of this place.

Hope to get positive response to this.

Yours faithfully,

John

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You address all three points: you explain that you walk in the countryside near your home, describe visitors leaving rubbish, and propose newspaper articles and posters to raise awareness. The setting is made more specific by the walking track over the hill to the river, and the concern about pollution and wildlife is relevant. However, some points are less fully developed than others. The description of the litter remains general (“a bulk of trash”), and the proposed response focuses mainly on awareness rather than explaining how it could reduce litter or suggesting practical measures such as bins or organised clean-ups. A little more detail about the rubbish and how your suggestions would help would make the letter more complete.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The letter has a clear overall arrangement: an opening that states its purpose, paragraphs about the walks and litter, and a final paragraph proposing action. This makes the main message easy to follow. You also use some linking expressions, including “Before,” “but,” and “Especially.” However, connections are occasionally awkward or unclear. For example, “And want to suggest few things” is a fragment, while “As its natural beauty is affecting by such waste” does not connect smoothly to the preceding suggestion. The shift from describing the countryside to discussing visitors could also be more clearly signposted. Use complete sentences and link each proposed action directly to the problem it addresses.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use a relevant range of vocabulary for the topic, including “scenic,” “leftovers,” “pollution,” “awareness,” and “wild animals.” These choices help communicate your concern and show attempts to use more specific language than basic terms such as “bad” or “things.” However, several spelling and word-choice errors reduce precision, including “coutryside,” “magneficient,” “imposible,” and “mange.” Some combinations are also unnatural: “a bulk of trash” and “off duty” do not express your meaning naturally in this context. Aim for accurate, conventional collocations and check spelling carefully; this will make your message sound more fluent and precise.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, for example, “Many old visitors tried to collect this trash by themselves, but now its becoming…” This shows some ability to connect ideas, but grammatical control is inconsistent. There are errors in verb forms and sentence construction, such as “many people come around” after a past-time reference and the fragment “And want to suggest few things.” The sentence “As its natural beauty is affecting by such waste” also has an incorrect passive construction. Articles and possessives need attention in phrases such as “near the countryside” and “its becoming.” Practise forming complete sentences and checking tense consistency, articles, and passive verb forms.

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