Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Barron's Writing · 2026-08-18

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 Landlord,

I am writing to express my problem regarding the parking space which I am facing as a tenant in your building.

I am living in Building 112 on ground floor, on my lease agreement clearly allot one parking space on my accommodation. Whereas, my space has been acquired by construction workers for their storage and material dump yard.

Every night, when I reach home after long day work, I am struggling to find a parking for my vehicle therefore, last option left for me his street parking, even though for it, I need 2 minutes drive and in return 10 Minutes walking distance to reach home, which is really painful despite for the services which I am paying.

I would suggest you to discuss the problem with building contractor because those guys have a spare dump truck to

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The letter addresses all three bullet points: describing the situation, explaining the impact, and suggesting a solution. However, the response is incomplete, ending abruptly mid-sentence ('...spare dump truck to'). Furthermore, the word count is 140 words, which is below the 150-word minimum requirement. This under-length significantly impacts the development of ideas, particularly the suggestion for the landlord. To improve, you must ensure the letter is complete and meets the minimum length requirement by expanding on your suggestions or providing more detail about the impact of the parking issue.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The letter follows a logical structure, beginning with the purpose of the writing and moving through the required points. Paragraphing is attempted, though the abrupt ending disrupts the flow. Cohesive devices such as 'Every night,' 'therefore,' and 'even though' are used to link ideas, although some transitions are slightly awkward, such as 'Whereas, my space has been acquired.' The overall progression is clear, but the lack of a proper conclusion or sign-off due to the incomplete nature of the text limits the score.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, allowing the reader to understand the situation. You use some relevant terms like 'lease agreement,' 'accommodation,' and 'vehicle.' However, there are some unnatural collocations and word choice errors, such as 'express my problem' (better: 'express my concern') and 'painful' to describe a parking inconvenience. The range is somewhat limited, and the incomplete sentence prevents the use of more sophisticated vocabulary that might have been included in a full conclusion.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

There is a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but accuracy is inconsistent. Errors include 'I am living... on ground floor' (missing articles), 'on my lease agreement clearly allot' (incorrect verb form/subject-verb agreement), and 'last option left for me his street parking' (incorrect pronoun/word choice). While the meaning is generally clear, these frequent errors in basic grammar and sentence construction prevent a higher score. Focusing on subject-verb agreement and article usage will help improve your accuracy.

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

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