Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 13 · 2026-09-06

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 letter to express my extremely dissatisfaction towards garbage collection system for not working well in my area. As a result, this is causing problems between me and my neighbours.

To begin with, wastage collectors does not come regularly. However, From last few weeks some of the bins on my streets are not regularly picked up. As a result, it raise a concern in my neighbourhood. However, we often tried to complain about it but the local authority is not responding well.

Due to all of these, it is raising a lots of problems among the living community. For instance, our garbage is piling up. We have to drain the garbage by ourselves. Furthermore, the number of mosquitoes are also increasing in the area. As a result, disease such as malaria, fever, viral fever are also increasing in the local area.

I request the local council to make attention towards this problem. Give strict warning to garbage collectors for being regular about their work.

It would be a pleasure to hear from you.

Yours faithfully,

Khushi Patel.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The letter covers all three bullet points required by the prompt: describing the system failure, explaining the impact on the community, and suggesting solutions. The tone is appropriate for a formal letter to a council. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited. For example, the suggestion to 'give strict warning' is a bit brief. To reach a higher band, you could expand on how the council might improve the collection schedule or provide better communication channels. Overall, the purpose of the letter is clear and the requirements are met.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The letter is organized into logical paragraphs, which helps the reader follow your argument. You use some cohesive devices such as 'To begin with', 'Furthermore', and 'As a result'. However, some transitions are used incorrectly or repetitively. For instance, you use 'However' twice in the second paragraph where it does not fit the logical flow, and 'As a result' is used three times throughout the text. Improving the variety of your linking words and ensuring they are used to show logical relationships rather than just acting as sentence starters will improve your score.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You have a sufficient range of vocabulary to convey your message, such as 'local authority', 'piling up', and 'neighbourhood'. However, there are several errors in word choice and collocation that slightly hinder the natural flow. For example, you wrote 'extremely dissatisfaction' instead of 'extreme dissatisfaction' and 'wastage collectors' instead of 'waste collection services'. Additionally, 'make attention' is not a standard collocation; 'pay attention' or 'address the issue' would be more appropriate. Expanding your vocabulary to include more precise terms for formal correspondence would be beneficial.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

You attempt a mix of simple and complex sentences, but there are frequent grammatical errors. Subject-verb agreement is a recurring issue, such as 'wastage collectors does not come' (should be 'do not come') and 'number of mosquitoes are' (should be 'is'). There are also errors with articles and plurals, such as 'on my streets' (should be 'on my street') and 'disease such as malaria' (should be 'diseases such as malaria'). While these errors do not prevent the reader from understanding your meaning, they occur frequently enough to impact the overall accuracy of your writing.

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

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