Band 7.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 7.0 · Barron's Writing · 2026-09-11

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 7.0)

Dear Landlord,

Subject: Regarding the issue of car parking.

I am renting your apartment in Toronto. I am writing to inform you that I am struggling with a problem of finding a parking spot for my car regularly. Whenever I come back home from work at night, I have to park my car on the street because there is no available spot in the building’s parking lot. I have already received a number of parking tickets for parking my vehicle on the road, which is rising my expenses. In addition, parking my car on the street is an unsafe option, and this causes me mental stress.

As a solution, I would like to request you to talk to the building manager and ask them to provide me with a reserved parking space, so I can park my car in the right spot without facing any problems.

I am looking forward to your positive response.

Thank you very much.

Yours faithfully,

Sukhbir

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

The letter successfully addresses all three bullet points: the situation is described, the impact is explained, and a solution is proposed. The tone is appropriate for a formal letter to a landlord. The ideas are relevant and clearly presented. To reach a higher band, the development could be slightly more detailed; for instance, you could elaborate on how long this has been happening or provide more specific details about the parking lot's current management to further strengthen your argument.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.5

The letter is logically organized with a clear introduction, body, and conclusion. Paragraphing is used effectively to separate the problem from the proposed solution. Cohesive devices such as 'In addition' and 'As a solution' are used correctly to guide the reader through the text. The flow of ideas is smooth and easy to follow. To improve, you could experiment with a wider variety of linking words to connect sentences within paragraphs more fluidly.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.5

The vocabulary is sufficient for the task and conveys the message clearly. You use appropriate terms like 'parking lot', 'reserved parking space', and 'mental stress'. There is a minor collocation error in 'rising my expenses', which should be 'increasing my expenses'. While the vocabulary is functional, it is somewhat standard. Incorporating more precise or sophisticated collocations would help elevate the lexical range to a higher band.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 7.0

The letter demonstrates a good mix of simple and complex sentence structures. Most sentences are error-free, and the grammar is generally accurate. There is a minor error in the phrase 'struggling with a problem of finding', which would be more natural as 'struggling to find'. Punctuation is used correctly throughout. The control of grammar is consistent, and the minor slips do not impede communication at all.

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

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