Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 13 · 2026-09-07

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,

The primary reason for writing is that the garbage collection system is not working properly.

The main problem is that the garbage truck never follows the garbage calendar. According to the days given by authorities, fridays of every first and third week of every month are assigned for recycle and composed garbage whereas on second and fourth fridays are considered for decomposed garbage. However, garbage truck driver follows a different rule.

As a result, health concerns are the biggest issue for us and our neighbors because bins pilled up for several days which cause air pollution and now it becomes breeding ground for many insects and bacterias which cause infections such as nausea and viral infections

To prevent this from happening, I would request you to do a regular meetings with garbage truck drivers and we would appreciate if we will get the updates about the changes in calendar.

I will appreciate your following steps to mitigate this issue.

Yours faithfully,

Aastha

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

You have addressed all three bullet points of the task: describing the problem, explaining the impact, and suggesting a solution. The tone is appropriate for a formal letter to a local council. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited. For example, while you mention health concerns, the explanation could be more detailed to fully explore the impact on the community. The suggestion for 'regular meetings' is a bit vague; suggesting a specific communication channel or a review of the collection schedule would have been more effective. Overall, the response covers the requirements well but lacks depth in the proposed solutions.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The letter is logically organized with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a closing. Each paragraph focuses on a specific aspect of the prompt. However, the use of cohesive devices is somewhat mechanical. Transitions between sentences could be smoother; for instance, the transition from the problem description to the health impact is abrupt. While the paragraphing is appropriate, the flow of ideas would benefit from a wider range of linking words and better referencing to connect the sentences more fluidly.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'garbage collection system', 'decomposed', and 'mitigate'. However, there are some inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'bins pilled up' (should be 'piled up') and 'do a regular meetings' (should be 'hold regular meetings'). Additionally, 'bacterias' is an incorrect plural form; 'bacteria' is already plural. While the vocabulary is sufficient to convey your meaning, more precise and natural collocations would improve the quality of the writing.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are several grammatical errors, particularly with articles ('the garbage truck', 'the garbage calendar') and subject-verb agreement. For example, 'garbage truck driver follows' should be 'the garbage truck driver follows'. There are also issues with punctuation and pluralization, such as 'fridays' (should be capitalized 'Fridays') and the misuse of 'which' in the sentence regarding health concerns. While these errors do not prevent the reader from understanding your message, they occur frequently enough to impact the overall accuracy.

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

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