Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 13 · 2026-09-18

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 5.0)

Dear Sir or Madam,

I am writing to informed you that the garbage collection producere not accurately working.

As per the policy litter has been collecting twice a week although they are coming once a week from last few month.As a result, the garbage box not able to emply and start smelling all the day.

There are severely affects to our living environment.due to becteria, there is some viruse affected to our health. whole society not able to spend time outside and also kids not fulfill the outdoor activities.

To resolve this problem, Strick action has being taken by the local government .In addition, remove the rubbish which has from long time immedietely to prevent major illness in the town or society.Last but not least, rutine check up program should impose to work effectvely.

Look forward to get prompt solution and strick action.

Yours faithfully,

Vijay

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response covers all three bullet points required by the prompt. You successfully describe how the rubbish collection is failing, explain the negative impacts on you and your neighbours, and suggest solutions such as taking strict action and implementing routine checks. The tone is appropriately formal for a letter to a local council. However, your response has a length issue, as it contains 146 words, falling just short of the 150-word minimum requirement. This minor under-length impacts your task completion score slightly. To reach a higher band, ensure you expand slightly more on your supporting ideas and carefully monitor your word count during the exam to comfortably exceed the minimum threshold.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

Your letter is structured with a clear beginning and ending, and you use basic paragraphing to separate your ideas into introduction, body, and conclusion. However, the logical progression is hindered by frequent awkward phrasing and missing cohesive devices. Sentences such as 'As a result, the garbage box not able to emply and start smelling all the day' lack smooth transitions and correct connective tissue. Paragraphing is also somewhat disrupted because multiple distinct ideas, such as environmental impact and health issues, are condensed together rather than clearly developed in separate logical steps. Improving your use of cohesive markers like 'furthermore', 'consequently', or 'in addition' will greatly enhance the overall flow and readability of your writing.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

You attempt some less common vocabulary items related to the topic, such as 'environment', 'bacteria', and 'routine check up program'. However, there are numerous lexical and spelling errors throughout the text, such as 'informed' instead of 'inform', 'producere' instead of 'procedure', 'emply' instead of 'empty', 'becteria' instead of 'bacteria', 'viruse' instead of 'viruses', 'Strick' instead of 'strict', and 'rutine' instead of 'routine'. These frequent spelling mistakes and word-form errors restrict your lexical score. While your meaning can generally be understood, these inaccuracies impede smooth reading. To improve, you should focus on expanding your precise vocabulary and thoroughly proofreading your work to eliminate basic spelling and word-form slips.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The text displays a mix of simple and attempted complex sentences, but grammatical accuracy is quite low. There are frequent missing auxiliary verbs, incorrect verb forms, and preposition errors. For instance, writing 'I am writing to informed you' contains an incorrect infinitive form, and 'there is some viruse affected to our health' suffers from subject-verb agreement issues and incorrect prepositions. Similarly, 'Strick action has being taken' contains a passive voice error. These persistent errors cause difficulty for the reader and demonstrate weak control over complex grammatical structures. To achieve a higher band score, you need to focus on mastering basic sentence structures, ensuring correct verb tenses, and eliminating fundamental grammatical errors.

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

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