Band 4.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 4.5 · Cambridge IELTS 13 · 2026-09-13
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 4.5)
Dear Sir or Madam,
I am Kubra from Hyderabad stays in Khairtabad writing this letter regarding the garbage collection at my society is not working good me and my neighbours are suffering a lot of difficulties like serious disease spreading by housefly and mosquitos all over the society we request you to kindly look onto it and also we request the councelor to change the system and make sure one person should come daily to check and if it happens then we are really greatful for the change you did for us we really appreciate you for this kind help you did for us. Moreover, you are really taking and removing the diseases which are spreading by this dirty smell and many individuals are suffering with vomiting with that smell and many house flies are coming into our home and this is really effecting on our health which we really need to take care of it
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 4.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 4.0 |
| Overall | 4.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0
The student covers all bullet points of the prompt, successfully describing how the rubbish collection system is not working, explaining the negative effects on neighbours and health, and suggesting solutions. However, the development of ideas is limited and repetitive, particularly regarding the health impacts and the request to the council. The tone is appropriate for a formal letter of complaint, although it tends to become informal and conversational in places. While all parts of the task are addressed, the lack of full elaboration places this response securely within the Band 5 descriptors, as the ideas remain somewhat limited and under-developed.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 4.0
The text suffers from a significant lack of paragraphing, appearing as one long, continuous block of text, which severely hinders the overall flow and logical progression. Cohesive devices are minimal and basic, relying heavily on additive connectors like 'and' and 'moreover'. There is a complete lack of punctuation, creating huge run-on sentences that make the text difficult to parse. This lack of proper structural organisation and cohesive management corresponds directly to the Band 4 descriptor, where information and ideas are not arranged coherently due to faulty mechanics and absence of paragraphing.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.0
The vocabulary used is basic and repetitive, frequently reusing terms like 'disease', 'spreading', 'smell', and 'neighbours'. There are noticeable word choice and collocation errors, such as 'rubbish collection... is not working good', 'serious disease spreading by housefly', and 'taking and removing the diseases'. These errors and the limited range occasionally cause difficulty for the reader, matching the Band 5 criteria. To improve, the student needs to incorporate a wider range of functional vocabulary related to local council complaints and environmental issues.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 4.0
The grammatical range is extremely limited, characterized by a complete absence of periods or commas, resulting in a single run-on sentence spanning the entire letter. While there are some attempts at complex clauses, they are poorly constructed and heavily obscured by punctuation errors. Frequent structural errors, such as missing subjects and incorrect verb forms ('Kubra... stays', 'garbage collection... is not working good', 'this is really effecting'), impede comprehension and demonstrate poor control over basic sentence boundaries, aligning with the Band 4 descriptor.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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