Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · IELTS Predictions Nov 2026 · 2026-11-11

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

You take the number 24 bus from Northfield to the city centre several times a week. Recently, you have found it difficult to plan your journeys because you cannot rely on the service. You decide to write to the bus company to explain your concerns and ask it to improve the service.

Write a letter to the bus company. In your letter

• explain why you use this bus service
• describe the problems you have experienced with it
• suggest what changes the company could make to improve the service

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 would like to express concern about the bus number 24 which i board regularly from Northfield to the city centre for reaching to my work place which is near to city centre in HP store.

The significant concern is the bus delay as it arrrived 40 minutes late,making passengers miss appointments. To makew matters worse, the vehicle was overcrowded and poorly maintained. Another major concern was the driver's unprofessional behaviour. As a result, I missed an important appointment and experienced considerable inconvenience.

I wouls strongly recommend increasing the frequency of buses during peak hours. Iw would be beneficial to conduct regular maintenance inspections. I suggest providing passengers with timely updates regarding delays and cancellations.

I hope you will investigate these issues and take appropriate steps to improve your services.

Yours faithfully,

Anuj Patel

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

You address all three requested points: you explain that you take the bus to reach your workplace, describe delays, overcrowding, poor maintenance and the driver’s behaviour, and propose more frequent buses, inspections and passenger updates. The specific example of a 40-minute delay and a missed appointment makes the complaint relevant and gives it some support. However, the reason for using this service is only briefly stated, and the suggested changes are listed rather than explained in detail. The response also falls 14 words short of the required minimum, so there was room to develop these points further. To strengthen the letter, explain why this route is necessary for your work and how each proposed change would help passengers.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 7.0

The letter has a clear overall progression: it introduces the complaint, describes the problems, proposes solutions and closes with a request for action. Paragraphing helps distinguish these functions, and linking phrases such as “To make matters worse” and “As a result” show how the problems affected you. The sequence is easy to follow, although the list of recommendations would connect more smoothly if each were linked to a specific problem—for example, pairing peak-hour frequency with overcrowding. The opening and closing are appropriate for a formal complaint, but the salutation should match the task’s requested “Dear Sir or Madam,”. Overall, organisation is clear, with some scope for more flexible connections between ideas.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range of vocabulary for a formal complaint, including “overcrowded,” “poorly maintained,” “unprofessional behaviour,” and “considerable inconvenience.” These choices communicate the main concerns clearly, and “timely updates” is suitable for the proposed solution. Some wording is less natural or precise: “for reaching to my work place” is awkward, while “the bus delay” and “improve your services” could be expressed more specifically. There are also spelling and typing errors, including “arrrived,” “wouls,” and “Iw,” which reduce accuracy. Aim for more natural collocations and proofread carefully; for example, describe the route as essential for your commute and refer to “service reliability” when summarising the complaint.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

You use a mix of sentence forms, including a longer opening sentence and shorter statements that make the complaint easy to understand. The past-tense account—“the vehicle was overcrowded” and “I missed an important appointment”—is generally clear, and the recommendations use appropriate forms such as “I suggest providing.” Some grammatical errors remain. In the opening, “for reaching to my work place” has an incorrect construction; use “to get to my workplace.” The phrase “the bus number 24 which I board” would be more natural as “the number 24 bus, which I take.” Capitalisation and punctuation also need attention, particularly the lowercase “i” and the missing space after the comma in “late,making.” More accurate sentence patterns and careful proofreading would improve control.

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

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