Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 13 · 2026-10-22

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 6.5)

Dear Sir,

I am writing this letter in great disappointment to inform you that garbage collection team is not working properly. The schedule everyone agreed on for our area is not being followed because of unavailability of the rubbish transport vehicles. Either the manager of that team is not intrested in his job or his team is not under his control.

Because of this several garbage bags are pilled up in front of our house. The stray cats and dogs in the area take the litter out of bags in search of food as a result garbage spread around in the whole street. Our neighbours have kids and with each passing day this collection of dump is becoming source of infection for children as well as adults.

Please take a strict action against the authorties responsible for mismanagement and also request for more transport and team workers to cover the area fully. Hope you will take the action soon.

Yours sincerely,

Ashley.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.5

The letter addresses all three requirements: it reports that the agreed collection schedule is not being followed, explains the resulting litter and health concerns, and asks the council to act. The examples of bags accumulating outside the house and animals scattering rubbish make the impact clear, while the request for additional vehicles and workers gives a relevant remedy. The purpose and complaint remain clear throughout. To strengthen the response further, develop the proposed action more precisely—for example, request a temporary clean-up, a reliable collection timetable, or an investigation into missed collections. The accusation that the manager may be uninterested is less useful than specific evidence about when collections were missed, so replacing it with factual detail would make the case more persuasive and fully developed.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 7.0

The letter has a clear progression: the opening states the problem, the next paragraph describes its effects, and the final paragraph makes requests. Paragraphing suits the three main functions, and links such as “Because of this” and “as a result” help show cause and effect. The reader can follow the complaint without difficulty. Some connections could be smoother and more precise: the long sentence beginning “The stray cats and dogs” joins several consequences together, making the relationship between animals scattering rubbish and the health risk less easy to track. Separate these points into shorter sentences, and use a clearer transition into the requested remedies. The closing is appropriate, though the final request could be organised as a more explicit list of actions.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

The vocabulary is adequate for explaining a local service problem, with relevant terms such as “collection schedule,” “transport vehicles,” “stray cats and dogs,” and “source of infection.” These choices communicate the situation and its consequences. There are, however, some spelling and word-choice errors, including “intrested,” “pilled,” and “authorties,” and a few phrases are not natural in formal correspondence: “take a strict action” and “collection of dump.” “Garbage spread around” also needs a more idiomatic expression. Greater accuracy with spelling and collocation would make the complaint sound more professional. Aim for precise, conventional phrases rather than forceful but awkward wording, especially when describing the council’s responsibilities and the requested response.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

The response uses a mix of simple and more complex sentence forms, including a reason clause in “because of unavailability” and a result structure in “as a result.” Most meaning remains clear, but some grammatical errors occur. In “garbage collection team is not working,” the singular count noun needs an article; “Because of this several garbage bags” needs a comma after the introductory phrase; and “is becoming source of infection” requires an article before “source.” The sentence about animals and rubbish also needs clearer punctuation or division into separate sentences, as several clauses are joined without a sufficiently clear structure. Review articles, sentence boundaries, and punctuation in longer sentences to improve accuracy while retaining the range of structures attempted.

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