Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 13 · 2026-09-28

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 5.5)

Dear Sir,

I am writing this letter to inform you about the rubbish collection system which is used in our area is not working properly.

The staff who collect the garbage from bins they do not properly clear the bins and also while clearing it they make so much mess around there, which can directly increase the risk of various diseases that can harm to our local residence.

I firmly believe that you should talk about this with the staff who collect the garbage and give them proper taining how to clear bins neatly without doing the mess around. Moreover, they should come every week and proper supervision must be ensured.

I look forward to hearing from you. Please let me know if you need more information from my side.

Yours sincerely,

Arshdeep Singh

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You successfully covered all three bullet points from the prompt: you described how the rubbish collection system is failing, explained the resulting health risks for you and your neighbours, and suggested actionable solutions such as staff training and weekly monitoring. The tone is appropriate for a formal letter to a local council, maintaining a clear purpose throughout. However, a major issue is the length requirement. The text contains only 134 words, falling short of the mandatory 150-word minimum specified in the instructions. Consequently, Task Achievement must be penalised for under-length, as the ideas could have been further extended to fully develop the response. To improve, always ensure you write at least 150 words.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The letter follows a clear logical organisation, moving logically from the statement of the problem to its consequences, and finally to your suggested solutions. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate each main point, which helps the reader follow your argument easily. Cohesive devices such as 'Moreover' and 'which' are employed to link ideas together. However, referencing and cohesion occasionally feel a bit mechanical or repetitive. For instance, the sentence structure in the second paragraph relies heavily on clause stacking without smooth transitions. Overall, the structure is coherent and the message is easy to follow, aligning well with the characteristics of Band 6.5 or a solid Band 6.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

Your vocabulary is adequate for the task and successfully communicates your meaning. You used some relevant topic-specific terms such as 'rubbish collection system', 'garbage', 'bins', and 'local residence'. However, the range of vocabulary is somewhat limited, and there are noticeable word choice and collocation errors. For example, writing 'give them proper taining how to clear bins neatly without doing the mess around' contains unnatural collocations ('doing the mess around' instead of 'making a mess') and a spelling error ('taining'). Additionally, 'local residence' should be 'local residents'. To reach a higher band, you need to incorporate a wider variety of less common lexical items and precise collocations.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You demonstrated an attempt to use complex sentence structures, such as relative clauses ('which can directly increase the risk...') and subordinate clauses. However, your writing contains significant grammatical errors and structural awkwardness. A primary issue is the double subject/verb error in your opening sentence: '...the rubbish collection system which is used in our area is not working properly', where the relative clause structure becomes tangled. Another error is found in the second paragraph: 'The staff who collect the garbage from bins they do not properly clear the bins', where 'they' is redundantly repeated. There is also a fragment in 'that can harm to our local residence'. These frequent errors impact readability and restrict your grammar score to Band 5.5.

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

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