Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

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

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 to bring my and mine neighbours concern into your notice which is regarding the problems faced by us due to the poor garbage collection system of our area.

The person you have given responsibility is irregular and when we ask him about the reason, he is always ready with some excuses which are never justifiable. Not only this if even if he come, he try to collect all the waste in one go due to that a lot of waste was fallen down as they vehicle is not enough to carry all household waste.

There are a lot of issues that our society are facing due to his this behaviour. Firstly, there are mosquitoes, flies etc. all around our area. Secondly, there is foul smell spread across due to which nobody can able to invite any guest to their home.

To overcome certain issues I would request you to take a strict action against him and allocate bigger vehicle which would take the entire things and should be come on daily basis.

I hope you will take a quick action towards our concern.

Yours sincerely,

Alex

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The letter addresses all three bullet points of 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 basic. For instance, the suggestion to 'allocate bigger vehicle' is a bit simplistic. To reach a higher band, you should expand on the consequences of the issue or provide more specific details about the frequency of the collection failures. Overall, the purpose of the letter is clear and the requirements are met.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The letter is logically organized into clear paragraphs, each focusing on a specific aspect of the task. You use basic cohesive devices such as 'Firstly' and 'Secondly' to structure your arguments. However, the flow between some sentences is slightly mechanical, and there are instances where referencing is unclear, such as 'his this behaviour' in the third paragraph. Improving the use of transition words and ensuring that pronouns clearly refer back to their antecedents would help the text flow more naturally and improve the overall coherence.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary to convey your message, such as 'justifiable', 'irregular', and 'foul smell'. However, there are several instances of awkward phrasing and word choice errors, such as 'bring my and mine neighbours concern into your notice' (should be 'bring my and my neighbours' concerns to your attention') and 'all the things' (which is vague). While these errors do not impede communication, they limit the precision of your writing. Expanding your vocabulary to include more formal, topic-specific collocations would enhance your score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

You attempt a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors throughout the text. Examples include subject-verb agreement issues ('he come', 'society are facing'), incorrect verb tenses ('was fallen down'), and awkward sentence construction ('due to that a lot of waste was fallen down'). While the meaning remains clear, these errors are noticeable and occur frequently. To improve, focus on mastering basic subject-verb agreement and ensuring consistent verb tense usage throughout your writing.

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

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