Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 13 · 2026-08-21

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

The system used for rubbish/garbage collection in your local area is not working properly. This is causing problems for you and your neighbours. Write a letter to the local council. In your letter

• describe how the rubbish collection system is not working properly
• explain how this is affecting you and your neighbours
• suggest what should 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 or Madam,

I am writing to inform you that garbage is not being collected on time in our community, which is creating a serious problems for us and our neighbours.

Firstly, garbage is normally collected every Thursday, but the truck is not come for the last three weeks in our society, possibly due to a system failure. Moreover, this has created a major hygiene issue, as several residents have experienced health problems due to the foul smell and the increase in insects around the uncollected waste.

I would like to request that you take an immediate action to resolve the problems and helped our area to make it clean and environmentally friendly. I suggest creating a proper system that all the residents receive a notification one day before garbage is collected, which would make the process smoother.

Thank you for your time and consideration. I am looking forward to hearing from you soon.

Yours faithfully,

Anuj Sood

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

You have successfully addressed all three bullet points in the prompt. You clearly described the failure of the rubbish collection system, explained the negative impact on the community, and provided a constructive suggestion for improvement. The tone is appropriate for a formal letter to a council. To reach a higher band, ensure that your ideas are slightly more developed; for instance, you could elaborate on the specific health risks or provide more detail on how the proposed notification system would function. Overall, the response is well-focused and meets all the requirements of the task.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The letter is logically organized with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a formal closing. You have used basic cohesive devices such as 'Firstly', 'Moreover', and 'I would like to request' to guide the reader through your arguments. The paragraphing is appropriate, with each paragraph focusing on a distinct aspect of the task. To improve, try to use a wider range of linking words or transition phrases to connect your ideas more fluidly, as some of the current transitions feel slightly mechanical.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.5

You have used a sufficient range of vocabulary to convey your message clearly, such as 'community', 'hygiene issue', 'foul smell', and 'environmentally friendly'. There are no significant errors in word choice that impede communication. However, the vocabulary is somewhat functional and lacks the 'less common' items that would demonstrate a higher level of lexical precision. To improve, try to incorporate more sophisticated collocations or topic-specific terminology related to municipal services or public health.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

You demonstrate a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is always clear, there are several grammatical slips, such as 'the truck is not come' (should be 'has not come') and 'helped our area' (should be 'help our area'). Additionally, 'creating a serious problems' contains a pluralization error. These errors are noticeable but do not prevent the reader from understanding your message. To achieve a higher score, focus on ensuring subject-verb agreement and consistent tense usage, and try to incorporate more varied complex sentence structures with fewer errors.

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

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