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
Sample Response
Dear Sir or Madam, I cannot really believe that I am writing such a letter to you about the messy rubbish collecting situation in my neighbourhood. And I am hoping that your mediation would solve the problem. The garbage management authority in my area these days is not really picking up the rubbish in due time. Sometimes, the rubbishes are even left for days, especially the liquid and organic waste, which become decomposed and then eventually spread foul smell all over. However, it wouldn’t exactly be so bad if some wild animals were not able to penetrate into the garbage bin to increase the risk of spreading some bad diseases. Besides, we feel really abashed when some of our friends and relatives complain about the foul smell in our neighbourhood while visiting us. So, it is indeed a really embarrassing situation for a country like ours where the waste management system has been generally good over the years. Therefore, I would like to request you to look into the matter and get some serious and trained professionals to get the job done in order to ensure a clean and disease-free neighbourhood for us. Yours faithfully, Jane Nancy
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Use objective opening Original: cannot really believe Suggested revision: am concerned Why it matters: A factual expression of concern is more effective in a formal council complaint.
- 2. Correct the phrase Original: messy rubbish collecting situation Suggested revision: unreliable rubbish collection Why it matters: The revision uses the correct noun phrase and identifies the service problem directly.
- 3. Remove initial conjunction Original: And I am hoping Suggested revision: I hope Why it matters: The sentence does not need the initial coordinating conjunction.
- 4. Use suitable action Original: your mediation would solve Suggested revision: your intervention will resolve Why it matters: A council intervenes in a service failure rather than mediating between parties.
- 5. Name the service Original: garbage management authority Suggested revision: waste collection service Why it matters: The revised term refers directly to the local service responsible for pickups.
- 6. Improve word order Original: these days is not really picking up Suggested revision: is currently not collecting Why it matters: Currently belongs beside the verb phrase, and collecting is more formal than picking up.
- 7. Use precise timing Original: in due time Suggested revision: on schedule Why it matters: On schedule clearly states that collections are late.
- 8. Use uncountable noun Original: rubbishes Suggested revision: rubbish Why it matters: Rubbish is uncountable in standard English.
- 9. Use active verb Original: become decomposed Suggested revision: decomposes Why it matters: Waste decomposes; the passive construction is unnecessary, and the singular mass noun takes a singular verb.
- 10. Correct the collocation Original: spread foul smell all over Suggested revision: create a foul smell throughout the area Why it matters: Create a smell is the natural collocation, and throughout identifies the affected location.
- 11. Use formal addition Original: Besides, we feel Suggested revision: In addition, we feel Why it matters: In addition links the next effect more appropriately in a council complaint.
- 12. Use suitable emotion Original: really abashed Suggested revision: embarrassed Why it matters: Abashed is not natural for the continuing embarrassment caused by neighbourhood odour.
Suggested Rewrites
- cannot really believe am concerned
- messy rubbish collecting situation unreliable rubbish collection
- And I am hoping I hope
- your mediation would solve your intervention will resolve
- garbage management authority waste collection service
- these days is not really picking up is currently not collecting
Why this response received Band 6.5
The letter clearly describes delayed rubbish collection and explains relevant effects, including decomposition, odour, animals, disease risk, and embarrassment for residents. Its main limitation is the proposed solution, which asks generally for ‘serious and trained professionals’ without specifying a reliable collection schedule or immediate cleanup. Prioritise requesting prompt removal of accumulated waste, secured bins, and a published regular collection timetable, while adopting a calmer formal tone.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The malfunction and its effects are well developed, while the requested remedy is relevant but insufficiently specific for council action.
Request an immediate collection, animal-resistant bins, and a fixed schedule with a contact point for missed pickups.
Coherence and Cohesion
The response moves logically from delayed collection to health and social effects and then a council request, though one paragraph limits clarity.
Use separate paragraphs for the service failure, its consequences, and the concrete corrective actions requested.
Lexical Resource
The vocabulary conveys urgency, but frequent unnatural choices such as ‘rubbishes’, ‘penetrate’, ‘bad diseases’, and ‘abashed’ reduce precision.
Use ‘uncollected rubbish’, ‘access the bins’, ‘health risks’, ‘foul odour’, and ‘qualified collection staff’.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Meaning is generally clear, but article, agreement, conditional, relative-clause, and sentence-opening errors recur.
Use complete formal sentences and ensure mass nouns such as ‘rubbish’ take singular agreement and no plural ending.
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
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
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.