Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 13 · 2026-10-06

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 hope you are doing well, i am writting this letter to inform you regarding the garbage collection problem in our area. We usually expect rubbish collection truck after every two weeks. However, truck didn't showed up from last month. Therefore, every household in my local area is struggling to manage their garbage.

According to the collection system, we tend to pack our garbage bags and put the bags at front of our houses for pickup. But, nobody showed up on the scheduled days since last month, most of the people have more than three or four big garge bags sitting inisde their houses causing infection and smell. Moreover, garbage is causing bugs and attract raccoons in the houses.

I would like to kindly suggest you to take strict actions against the rubbish collection system to tackle this problem. Apart from this, because nobody picked up garbage from a while, local residents have a lot of rubbish stored in their houses, so schedule extra trucks to remove garbage as soon as possible. I will be very thankful to you for you efforts.

Sincerely,

Ishpreet Singh

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.0

You successfully address all parts of the task prompt, achieving a clear purpose throughout the letter. You begin by describing the failure in the rubbish collection system, noting that the truck has not shown up for a month instead of the usual fortnightly schedule. You then clearly explain the negative impact on you and your neighbours, such as having three or four large bags sitting inside houses causing foul smells, infections, and attracting bugs and raccoons. Finally, you provide relevant suggestions to solve the issue, including taking strict action and scheduling extra trucks. Your ideas are well-supported and extended with specific details, representing a fully developed response that covers all bullet points effectively with a clear, polite tone suitable for a formal council letter.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

Your letter demonstrates a coherent overall arrangement with a clear logical progression from introducing the problem to discussing its effects and suggesting solutions. You use paragraphing sufficiently and appropriately, separating the introduction, the body paragraph detailing the impacts, and the concluding suggestions. Cohesive devices such as 'However', 'Moreover', and 'Apart from this' are utilised to connect your ideas, although referencing and linking feel slightly mechanical in places. To push further into higher bands, ensure smoother transitions between sentences and more seamless integration of your supporting details so that the flow between local issues and council actions is even more unified.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully attempting less common items and functional phrases such as 'scheduled days', 'local residents', and 'strict actions'. However, there are noticeable lexical errors, particularly in word form, spelling, and word choice. For instance, 'writting' contains a spelling error, 'garge bags' is misspelled, 'inisde' has a transposition error, and phrases like 'attract raccoons in the houses' or 'picked up garbage from a while' show inaccuracies in collocation and preposition usage. These errors do not impede communication, but they restrict your lexical score because control over less common vocabulary lacks precision.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating control over standard structures such as conditional-like statements and subordinate clauses, as seen in sentences like 'According to the collection system, we tend to pack our garbage bags...'. However, there are several errors in grammar and punctuation. There are minor punctuation and capitalization slips, such as the lowercase 'i' in 'i am writting'. Additionally, you encounter verb tense and aspect errors, such as 'truck didn't showed up', where the auxiliary 'didn't' should be followed by a base verb, and 'nobody picked up garbage from a while', where prepositions are misused. These errors persist throughout the text, placing your grammatical control firmly within this band.

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

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