Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 13 · 2026-10-05

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 6.0)

Dear Sir or Madam,

I am writing regarding a problem that me and my neighbors are facing, which is the garbage collection in our local area is not working.

We use to follow a schedule that garbage collectors use to come biweekly and collect the garbage but it is been one month that the collectors didnot came to pick it up. Our society had also complained a lot of times but not necessary action have been taken.

The garbage of the society had been filled up from past one month and now the garbage bins also full. Due to this garbage, foul smell is also disturbing our society and is effecting the health of people. Moreover, many racoons at night have made a mess near garbage bins in search of food. This had became a major problem for the society.

To overcome this malfunction you need to take strict actions against your staff members and retrain them properly to follow the schedule, do their duty and collect the garbage on time.

We hope this problem will be solved.

Yours faithfully,

Prabh

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.0

You successfully address all bullet points required in the task instructions. You clearly describe the failure in the rubbish collection system by noting that collectors have not come for a full month, explain the negative effects on you and your neighbours such as foul smells, health concerns and racoons making a mess, and suggest practical actions for the council to take regarding staff retraining. The ideas are extended and supported well throughout the letter, which shows a clear purpose and a consistent tone. To reach a higher level, your ideas could be even more fully developed with greater depth and detail regarding how the local council should specifically handle the schedule overhaul and compensate residents.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

Your letter has a coherent overall arrangement with a clear beginning and ending. You use standard paragraphing to separate your introduction, the description of the problem, the impacts, and your suggested solutions. The progression of ideas makes sense as you guide the reader from the issue to its consequences and finally to your demands. However, cohesion is sometimes a bit mechanical or faulty, such as in the transition 'Due to this garbage, foul smell is also disturbing our society...', where referencing and signposting could be smoother. To achieve a higher band, you would need to use cohesive devices more flexibly and ensure that paragraph transitions flow even more naturally.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully attempting less common phrases like 'biweekly', 'malfunction', and 'strict actions'. However, there are noticeable lexical errors in word choice, word form, and spelling that reflect a limited and developing resource. For instance, you wrote 'racoons' instead of 'raccoons', 'didnot came' which mixes tense elements, and 'effecting' instead of 'affecting'. Furthermore, phrases like 'garbage of the society had been filled up' are unnatural in collocation. To improve to a higher band, you need to expand your control of less common lexical items, improve your spelling accuracy, and use more precise collocations suited to formal correspondence.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You make a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating a basic command of grammar. For example, you use relative clauses successfully in sentences like 'I am writing regarding a problem that me and my neighbors are facing...'. However, there are frequent errors in grammar and punctuation throughout the text, such as pronoun case issues ('me and my neighbors' instead of 'my neighbours and I'), tense consistency errors ('We use to follow' instead of 'used to', and 'didnot came'), and subject-verb agreement issues ('not necessary action have been taken'). To reach the next level, you must reduce the frequency of basic grammatical errors and increase your control over complex sentence structures and verb forms.

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

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