Band 4.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.0 · Cambridge IELTS 13 · 2026-09-15

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 4.0)

Dear neighbours,

I am writing this letter to response your recent letter about the noise coming from my apartment. I really apologise for disturbing you and your family. Actualy, the noise was caused by small birthday party of my cousin last weekend. My friends and relatives came together at my home. We played loud music and talk loudly till late night. Unfortunately, we didnot realise that loud noise can disturb you.

I really apologise for this inconvenient. I I completely understand your concerns if yiu have children and need to wake up early in the morning for work. I assure you that this was an unusual situation and i will not happen this again.

To prevent this problrm in the future, I will keep the volume low and finish any parties by 9 p.m. I will also inform you in advance if I make any plan to invite relatives there. Once again, I am very sorry for the inconvenience.

Thank you for your understanding and patience.

Yours sincerely,

Crissa Chen

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 1.0

The response is a complete mismatch with the prompt instructions. The prompt explicitly asks the student to write a letter to the local council regarding a malfunctioning rubbish collection system, explaining how it affects neighbours, and suggesting solutions. However, the student wrote an apology letter addressed to 'neighbours' regarding noise complaints from a birthday party. Consequently, the candidate failed to address any of the bullet points required by the task prompt. According to the task achievement descriptors, this falls well below the standard for a passing score as the writing is completely off-topic.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

Despite the severe task irrelevance, the paragraphing is logical and structured appropriately into an introduction, body paragraphs, and a sign-off. Cohesive devices such as 'Unfortunately', 'To prevent this problem', and 'Once again' are used adequately to connect ideas within the context of the letter written, showing some capability in basic discourse management even though the content itself is entirely unsuited to the test prompt.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is generally simple and repetitive, typical of a low-intermediate level. The student attempts some appropriate vocabulary related to apologies and social interactions, such as 'apologise', 'disturbing', and 'inconvenience'. There are minor spelling and word-choice errors, such as 'response' instead of 'respond', 'Actualy' instead of 'Actually', and 'problrm'. The range is adequate for expressing daily situations, but it lacks the more advanced or precise lexical items expected at higher bands.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The writer demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, using phrases like 'I am writing this letter to...' and 'I completely understand your concerns if you have children...'. However, there are frequent grammatical errors and slips, including 'didnot realise', 'i will not happen this again', and repetitive structural patterns. Punctuation is generally acceptable, and while these errors do not completely impede communication in the context of the misread task, they reveal weak control over tense and modal verb consistency.

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

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