Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 13 · 2026-09-27
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
i'm writing this email to inform the council about the choas that is happening in our neighborhood . may residents are complaining about the rubbish that is outside our neighborhood . loads of rubbish and garbage bags are all around the area which caused a serious danger to the enviroment and our young children , also the smell is quiet not good specially those who contains food items , plastic supplies
on my behalf, and as a member or the neighborhood community .
I suggest that with the permission of the council and the mayr, they can start a cleaning compain with the locals and if the number is low they may hire people who work in the cleaning indestry may come and take a good look at the neighborhood and start cleaning the neighborhood and of course with the help of the residents the neighborhood will be back alive again
sincerly the head of the community
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5
The student covers all parts of the prompt, successfully describing how the rubbish collection system is not working properly, explaining the negative impacts on residents and children, and suggesting actionable solutions involving the council and local cleanup campaigns. The tone is appropriate for a formal letter to the local council, adopting the persona of a community head. Although the expression of ideas is somewhat basic, all bullet points are addressed thoroughly enough to satisfy the requirements for a Band 6.0.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0
The letter lacks proper paragraphing, presented mostly as a single block of text with arbitrary line breaks, which hampers the logical flow. While ideas are connected using basic cohesive devices such as 'also' and 'and', the referencing and punctuation are weak (e.g., erratic capitalization and spacing). There is an overall arrangement of ideas from problem to solution, but the faulty paragraphing and mechanical transitions pull the score down to Band 5.0.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.0
The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting some less common collocations like 'cleaning compain' and 'cleaning indestry'. However, there are noticeable spelling errors throughout the text, such as 'choas', 'may', 'enviroment', 'quiet' (for quite), 'mayr', 'compain', and 'sincerly'. These lexical errors do cause some distraction, but they do not completely impede communication, placing the response firmly at Band 5.0.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0
The text demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but it is heavily impacted by frequent grammatical inaccuracies, punctuation errors, and missing capitalisation. Examples of errors include run-on sentences and awkward phrasing such as 'specially those who contains food items'. Punctuation is largely neglected, with spaces placed before commas and periods. Despite these frequent errors, the core meaning remains mostly accessible, which is characteristic of a Band 5.0 performance.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
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