Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Barron's Writing · 2026-08-28

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 Ben ,

Hope you are doing well.

This is to inform you about the building with a parking lot in back, i often cannot find an empty parking space when I'm back home from work. I finish my work around 6 pm in the evening and it takes me 15 to 20 minutes to find a parking space.

I tried my best to get the parking space but unfortunately I could not find one daily and im facing this issue since 1 month and taught to bring to your attention.

Kindly help me with this so I can spend sometime after work with my family since half of the time is been lost finding for parking space after work. Please do allocate a parking space near 101 parking slot B for myself if it's possible.

looking forward for your response.

Thanks.

Kind regards ,

Jil

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The letter addresses all three bullet points: describing the parking situation, explaining the impact, and suggesting a solution. However, the response is under the 150-word minimum, which negatively impacts the score. The ideas are relevant but could be developed further to meet the length requirement and provide more depth. For instance, the explanation of why it bothers you is quite brief. To improve, ensure you expand on your points to fully satisfy the task requirements while maintaining a formal tone appropriate for a letter to a landlord.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The letter is organized into logical paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the message. However, the use of cohesive devices is somewhat limited and occasionally mechanical. For example, the transition between the problem description and the suggested solution is abrupt. While the overall progression is clear, the letter would benefit from a wider range of linking words and phrases to improve the flow between sentences and paragraphs. The paragraphing is present but could be more effectively utilized to separate the distinct parts of the request.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task but remains quite basic. Phrases like 'tried my best' and 'facing this issue' are functional but lack the precision expected at higher bands. There are also some minor errors in word choice, such as 'finding for parking space' instead of 'finding a parking space'. To reach a higher band, you should aim to incorporate more specific vocabulary related to housing or administrative requests, such as 'inconvenience', 'allocated', or 'persistent'.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The letter contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are several grammatical errors that occur throughout. For example, 'im facing this issue since 1 month' should be 'I have been facing this issue for a month', and 'half of the time is been lost' is grammatically incorrect. Punctuation is also inconsistent, particularly with spacing before commas. While these errors do not completely impede communication, they are frequent enough to affect the overall clarity and professional tone of the letter.

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

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