Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Barron's Writing · 2026-09-09

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 Mark,

I hope you are well. I am writing to you concerning the disturbance caused by loud music you play daily at night.

Let me explain my situation, I have to wake up early morning for my University classes but I am unable to get a good nights sleep owing to the loud incessant music that you play late at night time. This really makes it difficult for me to sleep well causing me to be extremely sleep deprived. Therefore, this is putting a significant strain on my education as I am unable to focus in classes.

I request that you lower the music volume from 10 pm onwards especially on weekdays as I get to bed around that time. Additionally we both can write a letter to request the landlord for installation of sound proof windows so that both of us are able to live without disturbance.

Thank you for your cooporation.

Yours faithfully,

Alana Morris

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 3.0

The response fails to address the task instructions. The prompt explicitly asks you to write to your landlord regarding a parking issue in your apartment building. However, your letter is addressed to 'Mark' and concerns a complaint about 'loud music' and 'sound proof windows'. Because you have written about an entirely different topic than the one assigned, the task achievement is severely compromised. While you have followed the letter format and tone, the content is irrelevant to the prompt provided. To improve, ensure you carefully read the task instructions and address the specific scenario described in the prompt.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The letter is logically organized with a clear opening, body paragraphs, and a closing. You use basic cohesive devices such as 'Therefore', 'Additionally', and 'However' to link your ideas. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the introduction, the explanation of the problem, and the proposed solution. While the content is off-topic, the structure itself is coherent and easy to follow. To reach a higher band, you could incorporate a wider variety of cohesive devices to improve the flow between sentences and ensure the progression of ideas feels more natural rather than mechanical.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'incessant', 'sleep deprived', and 'cooperation'. There is a minor spelling error in 'cooporation' (should be 'cooperation'). The vocabulary is generally appropriate for a formal letter, though it is limited in its ability to show precision because the content does not match the prompt. To improve, focus on using more sophisticated collocations and ensure spelling is accurate. Expanding your range to include more topic-specific vocabulary would also be beneficial for higher-level tasks.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as 'I am writing to you concerning the disturbance...' and 'I request that you lower the music volume...'. There are some grammatical issues, such as the comma splice in 'Let me explain my situation, I have to wake up...', which should be two separate sentences or joined by a semicolon. Additionally, 'early morning' should be 'early in the morning'. While these errors are present, they do not significantly impede communication. To improve, focus on sentence boundary punctuation and the correct use of articles and prepositions.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.