Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 13 · 2026-09-26

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,

The rubbish collection is done by saaf suthra team, they were collecting rubbish properly but nowadays the system used for rubbish collection in my area is not working properly. They are not coming to collect rubbish since 2 weeks. This rubbish create smell and produce alot of diseases, such as malaria, dengue and chloera. People are forced to take their garbage at their own home. Some people throw it in a site which is already full. This thing will affecting me and my neighbour who is living close to dustbin. My kids are suffered badly. The flies and mosqitoes producing their is moving to my home and my neighbourer home. All this garabage is spreading here and there on road as well. The pedestrains feel trouble while moving from this area. People who use to offer prayer also pass this location because mosque is beside this.

Dear sir, please take serious action against saaf suthra team if punjab for their non serious behaviour. I have few suggestion to over come this situtaion,1. make more dustbins, each dustbin for one street. 2. make a schedule for saaf suthra team to collect garabage

Thanks

Yours sincerely

Madeeha Shamim

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The candidate successfully covers all parts of the prompt. The letter opens appropriately with a greeting and covers the three bullet points required in the task. Specifically, the candidate describes how the rubbish collection has ceased for two weeks, explains the severe health and community impacts such as bad smells, diseases like malaria and cholera, and the proximity to a mosque, and finally suggests actionable solutions including adding more dustbins and scheduling collections. However, the tone and salutation slip slightly towards the end by repeating 'Dear sir' and the conclusion mixes standard letter formulas. Nonetheless, the task is adequately fulfilled, and the ideas presented are relevant and directly address the prompt, placing this safely in Band 6.0.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The letter exhibits a basic logical flow and progression of ideas, moving from the problem to its effects, and finally to solutions. However, paragraphing is poorly handled; the text is structured into a single large block of writing with inadequate separation of distinct thoughts. Cohesive devices are basic and sometimes repetitive or mechanical. For instance, the transition between sentences relies heavily on simple referencing such as 'This rubbish', 'This thing', and 'All this garabage', which feels repetitive. Additionally, the sign-off structure contains anomalies with a misplaced second salutation. Overall organisation is coherent enough to be followed easily, but paragraphing and cohesive control restrict the score to Band 5.0.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, allowing the student to communicate basic ideas about rubbish collection, diseases, and community impact. Words such as 'garbage', 'pedestrains', and 'schedule' show a satisfactory operational range. However, there are noticeable spelling and word choice errors throughout the text, such as 'chloera' instead of cholera, 'mosqitoes' instead of mosquitoes, 'garabage', 'pedestrains', and 'situtaion'. Furthermore, collocations are occasionally unnatural, such as 'produce alot of diseases' or 'feel trouble'. While these errors do not severely impede overall communication, they reflect a limited and error-prone lexical resource, fitting the Band 5.0 descriptor.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response displays a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as 'People who use to offer prayer also pass this location because mosque is beside this.' However, the text contains frequent grammatical errors, particularly regarding verb tenses, subject-verb agreement, and articles. Examples include 'This rubbish create smell' (instead of creates), 'This thing will affecting me' (instead of will affect), 'My kids are suffered badly' (instead of have suffered), and 'producing their is moving to' (instead of produced there are moving to). Punctuation and capitalization are also faulty in places, particularly with numbered lists and mid-sentence capitalization. These errors cause some difficulty for the reader and keep the grammar score at Band 5.0.

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

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