Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Barron's Writing · 2026-08-07
IELTS Writing Task 1 question
You live in a small apartment building with a parking lot in back, and you often cannot find an empty parking space when you get home from work.
Write a letter to your landlord. In your letter
• describe the situation.
• explain why it bothers you.
• suggest something the landlord could do to solve the problem.You do NOT need to write any addresses.
Begin your letter as follows:Dear ____
Student answer (Band 5.5)
Dear Sunny,
I am expressing my disappointment in the issue of parking in this letter. Therefore, please understand the thoughts thoroughly with my positive concern in it.
The thing is that whatever spot is allocated to me totally belongs to my apartment property considerably without any doubts on that particular part. But unfortunately, whenever I come after completion of my associated work, the situation arises really uncomfortable as well as unrealistic, especially I do not get my parking area.
Interestingly, it affected me each and every single day, while sorry to involve you in this small talk. However, the person who used my parking spot is maybe coming to meet his friends every day. Additionally, even they never hesitated to deliver their key to remove his car from that zone. As a result, I would recommend you to just underline this problem adequately, by calling them once to address this concern and try to solve it efficiently.
I hope you deliver useful response after understanding my views accordingly.
Kind regards,
Dhaval Thakkar
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The letter covers all three bullet points: describing the situation, explaining the impact, and suggesting a solution. However, the tone is inconsistent and occasionally confusing. For example, the phrase 'please understand the thoughts thoroughly with my positive concern in it' is unclear and does not sound like a standard formal request. While the task requirements are met, the development of ideas is somewhat hindered by awkward phrasing, which makes the landlord's potential understanding of the specific parking issue slightly less clear than it could be.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The letter is organized into logical paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the structure of the complaint. However, the use of cohesive devices is often mechanical or misused. Phrases like 'Interestingly, it affected me' and 'Therefore, please understand' do not logically connect the preceding sentences to the following ones. The flow is somewhat disjointed because the transition between the problem description and the proposed solution feels abrupt. While the paragraphing is appropriate, the internal cohesion needs more natural linking words to improve the overall readability.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The vocabulary is adequate for the task but lacks precision and natural collocation. There are several instances of awkward word choices, such as 'unrealistic' to describe a parking situation and 'underline this problem' (likely meant 'highlight' or 'address'). The phrase 'small talk' is used incorrectly to refer to a formal complaint. While the meaning is generally conveyed, the lack of sophisticated or natural vocabulary limits the score. The student relies on basic structures and occasionally uses words in contexts that do not fit standard English usage.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The letter contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors. For instance, 'the person who used my parking spot is maybe coming' uses an incorrect tense, and 'even they never hesitated to deliver their key' is confusingly phrased. There are also issues with article usage and prepositional phrases. While these errors do not completely impede communication, they are frequent enough to distract the reader and indicate a lack of control over more complex grammatical forms.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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