Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 13 · 2026-10-02
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 hope you are doing well. I am writing this letter to discuss about garbage collection in my local area. As, I lived in parliament avenue in my grabage company is XYZ, they didn't come from last two week to pickup the grabage collection. Due to this, me and my neighbours faced a lot of problems such as awful smell, health causes and there is a lot of fly on the garbage.
As a result, people suffer from cronic disease, like skin problems, heart disease. Therefore, you should provide a more dustbins in different areas which helps to control a pollution. moreover, you must make a schedule of garbage collection with the help to this they grab a rubbish collection twice a week. Apart from this, people and small children will leave in fresh place in peaceful mind.
I hope to hear from you soon. Thank You.
Kind regards,
Sandeep
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 6.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0
You successfully cover all parts of the task requirements by addressing the three bullet points outlined in the prompt. You describe the failure of the rubbish collection system stating that the company XYZ has not come for the last two weeks, explain the impact through details like awful smell and health concerns, and suggest practical solutions such as providing more dustbins and scheduling regular collections. However, some ideas are more fully developed than others. While the description of the problem and the effects are clearly stated, the suggestions for improvement are somewhat limited and under-developed, particularly regarding how the council should implement the new collection schedule. To reach a higher level, you should extend and support all your ideas with greater depth and clarity.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0
Your letter maintains a coherent overall arrangement that allows the reader to follow your main points from start to finish. You use basic cohesive devices to connect your ideas, such as 'As a result', 'Therefore', and 'moreover', though some of these connections feel slightly mechanical or are used with minor inaccuracies, such as the transition 'with the help to this they grab a rubbish collection'. Paragraphing is used to separate your thoughts into logical chunks, moving from the introduction of the problem to the effects and suggestions, and finally to the closing remarks. Referencing is generally understandable, though referencing pronouns could be managed more smoothly to improve the flow between sentences and paragraphs.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.0
You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully communicating your primary message regarding the garbage collection issue. You make several attempts to use less common vocabulary, such as 'cronic disease' and 'peaceful mind', but these attempts are accompanied by notable inaccuracies in word form, spelling, and word choice, such as 'grabage' instead of 'garbage' and 'cronic' instead of 'chronic'. Furthermore, your phrasing often relies on repetitive or unnatural collocations like 'health causes' instead of 'health issues'. These vocabulary errors are noticeable, but they do not completely impede communication, allowing the reader to understand your core grievances and suggestions.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0
You employ a mix of simple and complex sentence forms throughout your letter, attempting various structures to convey your message. However, your writing contains some errors in grammar, articles, prepositions, and punctuation that recur frequently. Examples include preposition and article errors such as 'lived in parliament avenue', 'in my grabage company', and 'from last two week', as well as structural slips like 'provide a more dustbins' and 'small children will leave in fresh place'. Although these errors are present, they rarely impede overall communication, and your basic meaning remains clear to the reader. To improve further, you should focus on sharpening your control over verb tenses, article usage, and prepositional patterns within complex sentences.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
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