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 am concernedcannot really believe that I am writing such a letter to you about the unreliable rubbish collectionmessy rubbish collecting situation in my neighbourhood. I hopeAnd I am hoping that your intervention will resolveyour mediation would solve the problem. The waste collection servicegarbage management authority in my area is currently not collectingthese days is not really picking up the rubbish on schedulein due time. Sometimes, the rubbishrubbishes are even left for days, especially the liquid and organic waste, which decomposesbecome decomposed and then eventually create a foul smell throughout the areaspread 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. In addition, we feelBesides, we feel embarrassedreally abashed when some of our friends and relatives complain about the foul smell in our neighbourhood while visiting us. So, it is an embarrassing situationindeed a really embarrassing situation for our communityfor a country like ours where the waste management system has been generally good over the years. Therefore, I would like to request you to investigate the collection failureslook into the matter and get reliable, trained collection staffsome serious and trained professionals to restore regular collectionsget the job done to ensurein order to ensure a clean and disease-free neighbourhood for us. Yours faithfully, Jane Nancy
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.