Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 13 · 2026-10-27

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,

I am writing to complain about rubbish collection system of our area. The garbage collectors are not doing their duties properly. Thus causing problems for the whole neighbourhood.

The Garbage collecting system has hired ten employees for collecting household rubbish from each doorstep. They are bound to gather the waste everyday. However they rarely visit the area for collecting garbage.

As the waste piles up it gives an unbearable stink. Flys hower around these piles of rubish. This pollution has made the area unbearable and difficult to live. As it rains, this waste gets stucks in the drain system. Me and my neighbours are affected with this problem especially because our main street is narrow and gets congested with rubish very quickly.

It would be highly appreciated, if you could advice the workers to regularly clean up the streets. Gather whole trash form the doorsteps and dump it somewhere safe. In this way our colony will look clean and appealing. Also, if there is staff shortages please hire new employees.

I hope to hear from you soon.

Yours faithfully,

John.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.0

The letter addresses all three requirements: it explains that collectors rarely visit, describes the effects of accumulated rubbish and blocked drains, and asks the council to ensure regular collection and hire staff if needed. The impact on neighbours is made concrete through the smell, flies and congestion on the narrow main street. These relevant details and the clear request make the response effective. To strengthen it further, develop the proposed action more precisely—for example, ask for a collection schedule, a prompt clean-up, or a way to report missed collections. The opening and closing are appropriate for a formal complaint, although addressing the council as “Dear Sir or Madam” would follow the requested format.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The information follows a sensible progression: complaint, explanation of the collection arrangement, consequences, and proposed solutions. Paragraph breaks help distinguish these stages, and linking expressions such as “However,” “As,” and “Also” guide the reader through the points. This gives the letter a coherent overall structure. Some connections are less smooth, however: “Thus causing problems” is a sentence fragment, while “As the waste piles up” and “As it rains” use “as” in different relationships that could be made clearer. The final suggestions also read as short commands rather than a connected request. Use complete sentences and clearer transitions to make the progression more fluent and less mechanical.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The response uses relevant vocabulary for the topic, including “household rubbish,” “doorstep,” “stink,” “drain system,” and “staff shortages,” so the problem is generally easy to understand. There is some variation in how the effects are described, but several word choices and spelling errors are noticeable and limit precision: “Flys,” “hower,” “rubish,” and “form” should be corrected, and “the area unbearable and difficult to live” is not a natural expression. “Garbage collecting system has hired ten employees” also assigns the hiring action to the system rather than the council or contractor. Aim for accurate collocations and consistent spelling, such as “rubbish collection service” and “the area has become difficult to live in.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The letter attempts a mix of simple and more complex structures, including “As the waste piles up…” and “if there is staff shortages…”. The main message remains understandable, but errors occur in sentence formation, agreement, articles and verb forms. “Thus causing problems for the whole neighbourhood” is a fragment; “Me and my neighbours are affected” needs a subject pronoun; and “this waste gets stucks” has an incorrect verb form. There are also issues in “the area unbearable and difficult to live” and “if there is staff shortages.” Practise building complete sentences and checking agreement and verb patterns. For example: “This waste makes the area unbearable to live in” and “If there are staff shortages, please hire additional employees.”

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

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