Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 13 · 2026-08-26

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 6.0)

Dear Sir or Madam,

I am writing this regarding garbage collection at black dr area. From late two week collector of garbage are not working properly.

Firstly, the rubbish collector used to take all the garbage from our neighbourhood. Unfortunatelty, from last week we are notice certain amount of garbage on the road they are not picking up from side walk and also this is very disbuting.

Secondly, there use to be allocation of garbage on what day what will be collected. Now days they are not posting on the community application. So, because of that people are confused about what day what will be taken by garbage collection and there are people who will put there all garbage out side. Because it been not collected animal are eating and distruting all the neighbours and there this bad smell is speareding around the houses.

I would appreciate if would look into this and tell garbage collection team to allocated days fro certain garbage on certain days it would be easy.

Your faithfully,

Sweta patel

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The letter covers all three bullet points required by the task: describing the problem, explaining the impact, and suggesting a solution. The tone is appropriate for a formal letter to a council. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited. For example, the explanation of the impact on neighbours is slightly repetitive, focusing heavily on the smell and animals. To reach a higher band, you should provide more specific details or a more structured argument regarding the consequences. Despite these minor limitations, all parts of the task are addressed, and the purpose of the letter is clear throughout.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The letter is logically organized into clear paragraphs, each focusing on a specific aspect of the prompt. You use basic cohesive devices such as 'Firstly', 'Secondly', and 'Because of that' to guide the reader. However, the flow between sentences is sometimes mechanical, and there are instances where referencing is unclear, such as the phrase 'there are people who will put there all garbage out side'. The use of cohesive devices is sufficient to make the letter coherent, but more sophisticated linking words or better sentence-to-sentence transitions would improve the overall flow.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is adequate for the task but lacks variety and precision. You rely on basic terms like 'garbage' and 'working properly' repeatedly. There are several spelling errors, such as 'disbuting' (disturbing), 'speareding' (spreading), and 'distruting' (distributing/disturbing), which occasionally distract the reader. While the meaning is generally clear, the range of vocabulary is limited, and the errors in word choice and spelling prevent a higher score. To improve, try to incorporate more precise synonyms and ensure you proofread for common spelling mistakes.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The letter contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors that affect the accuracy of the writing. Issues include incorrect verb tenses ('From late two week collector... are not working'), subject-verb agreement, and article usage. For instance, 'there use to be allocation' should be 'there used to be an allocation'. While these errors do not completely impede communication, they are persistent throughout the text. To improve, focus on mastering basic sentence construction, specifically verb tense consistency and the correct use of articles and prepositions.

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

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