Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · 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 5.5)

Dear MR. Jan,

I hope you doing well. I am writing to form a complain regarding the parking lot behind our residential building.

Since 2 months till now, every time i came back from my work around 7 P.M. I struggle to find a space to park my car, many times I had to park it at the end of the street far away from the building.

I find that so annoying having to walk every morning holding my laptop and other possess for a long distance to reach my car. Moreover, many times I had to hold heavy boxes all the way to my apartment.

I would really appreciate it if you could do a quick inspection to make sure that all the cars parked are belonging to our residents, also If you could specifies a certain park spot for every apartment.

Thank you for your understanding and look forward to hearing from you soon.

Yours faithfully

Diana

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

You have addressed all three bullet points of the task: describing the situation, explaining the impact, and suggesting a solution. The tone is appropriate for a letter to a landlord. However, the development of ideas is somewhat basic. For instance, the suggestion to 'do a quick inspection' is a bit vague. To improve, you could provide more specific details, such as suggesting a permit system or a designated parking sticker for residents. The letter is clearly focused and the purpose is evident throughout, meeting the requirements for a Band 6.0.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The letter is organized into logical paragraphs, which helps the reader follow your points. You use basic cohesive devices such as 'Moreover' and 'Since', which effectively link your ideas. However, the flow is occasionally interrupted by minor errors in sentence structure, such as 'Since 2 months till now'. The transition between the problem and the suggested solution is clear. To reach a higher band, ensure that your linking words are used more naturally and that the progression between sentences is smoother, avoiding repetitive sentence starters.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

You have a sufficient range of vocabulary to communicate your message clearly. You use relevant terms like 'residential building', 'inspection', and 'parking lot'. However, there are some inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'form a complain' (should be 'make a complaint') and 'possess' (should be 'possessions'). Additionally, 'specifies a certain park spot' is grammatically incorrect; 'assign a designated parking space' would be more precise. These errors do not impede communication, but they limit the score to a 6.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

You demonstrate an ability to use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. However, there are frequent grammatical errors, such as 'I hope you doing well' (should be 'I hope you are doing well'), 'every time i came back' (should be 'every time I come back'), and 'all the cars parked are belonging' (should be 'all the cars parked belong'). These errors are noticeable but do not prevent the reader from understanding your meaning. To improve, focus on subject-verb agreement and consistent verb tense usage.

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