Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 13 · 2026-11-02

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 6.5)

Dear Sir,

I am writing to express my dissatisfaction about that the rubbish collection service in our area has not been working properlyfrom the past three weeks.

To begin with, the trucks who collects the garbage were no longer come on their scheduled days or if they come they just come only two or three days .

Furthermore, when they come to collect rubbish they leave half bins full and half bin empty and somtimes just ignores the garbage bags which placed on the side of bin.

Unfortunately, this situation has affected all the colony people. it has been past 4 days and the bin were sitting their the falls smell came from that area and people cannot come out from their homes. In addition, the street dogs spread rubbish all over the place and due to this many insects were coming and cause any disease.

I would really appreciate if you could take action to resolve this as soon as possible. Firstly, the strict rules should be implement and make a strict scheduled. Secondaly, extra truck and more employees should be hired and give one phone number to the people where we can file complaints.

Thank you for your time. I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours faithfully,

Twinkle

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.5

The letter addresses all three required points and maintains a clear, appropriate purpose: you describe missed collections and bins left partly full, explain the smell, dogs and insects affecting residents, and propose stricter scheduling, more trucks and staff, and a complaints number. These details make the problem concrete and the requested action clear. The impact is supported with relevant examples, although phrases such as “all the colony people” and “people cannot come out from their homes” are broad and would be more convincing with a precise explanation of the practical disruption. The suggestions are useful but could be developed by specifying a collection frequency or asking the council to inspect the service. Overall, the task is covered clearly, with some ideas that could be more fully supported.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 7.0

The letter has a clear progression: it introduces the complaint, describes collection failures, explains their effects, and ends with proposed solutions and a polite closing. Paragraphing helps distinguish these stages, and signposts such as “Furthermore,” “In addition,” and “Firstly” guide the reader. The sequence of details is generally easy to follow. However, some linking is mechanical, particularly the list-like “Firstly” and “Secondaly,” and the long sentence about the bins, smell and residents combines several ideas without clear punctuation. More precise referencing would also help: “that area” and “this situation” could identify the location or consequence more clearly. These issues do not obscure the overall progression, but smoother links and cleaner sentence boundaries would make the letter more cohesive.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use enough topic vocabulary to communicate the complaint, including “rubbish collection,” “scheduled days,” “garbage bags,” “street dogs,” and “file complaints.” Some choices also convey the seriousness of the issue, such as “dissatisfaction” and “resolve.” However, the range is limited and several word choices or collocations are inaccurate or awkward: “falls smell” does not express the intended unpleasant odour, “strict scheduled” is not a natural phrase, and “cause any disease” is imprecise. Spelling slips such as “somtimes” and “Secondaly” also reduce control. Aim for more precise, natural expressions for the effects and remedies, and check spelling carefully. This would make the message more fluent and less effortful to interpret.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response attempts both simple and more extended sentences, including a conditional request (“I would really appreciate if you could take action”) and a sentence beginning “when they come to collect rubbish.” However, the range is limited, and errors occur frequently in verb forms, agreement, articles and sentence construction. For example, “the trucks who collects … were no longer come” has problems with the relative pronoun, agreement and verb form; “the bin were sitting” also has subject–verb disagreement. The sentence beginning “it has been past 4 days” is difficult to follow because its clauses are not clearly structured. Capitalisation and punctuation are inconsistent as well. Practise building accurate sentences around one main idea, then add subordinate clauses only when their grammar is secure.

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