Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 13 · 2026-09-12

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 5.5)

Dear sir,

i am writing about the complaint of rubbish which is not collect properly from last two week in local area. I saw garbage was not collected from two weeks that put adverse impact not only on the beauty of area but also health of the people. There are number of flies and mosquitoes surrounded by area which can raise fatal disease such as malaria, fever and many more. Moreover, most of the people in my area face difficulty to walk near by the bins because of the worse smell so it has become headache for people to survive there. So, i write a letter to local council because they would collect garbage by every week if your employee miss the our duties, they need to take strict action on them.

I hope you look this matter urgently so people can live quality of life and prevent from fatal disease.

your faithfully,

Gagan sidhu

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The candidate successfully covers all bullet points required by the prompt. The letter begins appropriately with the required salutation and clearly states the purpose of writing regarding the faulty rubbish collection system. The first bullet point is addressed by noting that garbage has not been collected for the past two weeks. The second bullet point is effectively handled by describing the adverse impacts on the area's beauty, health risks such as flies and mosquitoes bringing fatal diseases, and the unpleasant smell causing difficulties for residents. Finally, the third bullet point is covered by suggesting that the local council needs to take strict action against defaulting employees to ensure weekly collections. The tone is appropriate for a formal complaint letter, and all core requirements of the task are met well.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The letter maintains a clear overall progression and logical intent, moving from the initial complaint to the impacts, and concluding with a call to action. However, paragraphing is poorly handled, as the entire body of the letter is condensed into a single block of text rather than being divided into logical paragraphs for the different prompt points. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'Moreover' and 'So', but referencing and linking can sometimes feel mechanical or repetitive. The opening and closing are generally positioned correctly, but the lack of proper paragraphing limits the coherence of the structure.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The student demonstrates an adequate vocabulary for the task, successfully communicating everyday concepts related to the problem, such as 'garbage', 'flies and mosquitoes', 'fatal disease', and 'worse smell'. However, there are notable word choice and collocation errors throughout the text, such as 'rubbish which is not collect properly', 'mosquitoes surrounded by area', and 'raise fatal disease' instead of 'spread' or 'cause'. Attempts at less common vocabulary lead to these inaccuracies, though communication is not severely impeded. Spelling is generally acceptable, but lexical control remains basic.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The response features a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as 'which can raise fatal disease such as malaria' and 'so it has become headache for people to survive there'. However, grammatical accuracy is weak, with frequent errors including tense misuse ('is not collect properly', 'saw garbage was not collected from two weeks'), missing articles ('in local area'), and preposition errors ('surrounded by area'). Punctuation and capitalization are also inconsistent, with lowercase letters starting sentences ('i am writing', 'so i write'). While meaning remains mostly clear, the density of errors keeps the score at this level.

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

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