Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Barron's Writing · 2026-09-12

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 6.5)

Dear Mr. Patel,

I am writing this letter to complain about the unavailability of my parking space most of the time at night when I reach home after work.

Usually, I reach home by 10 p.m. and often all parking spaces are full. My regular parking spot is seen to taken by an unknown car. This car belongs to one your guests. As you already know we have limited parking spots available, to find another parking spot it takes me atleast half an hour. This is a bit frustrating to me after a tiring day at office.

Specifically it bothers me because although I am paying parking charges every month, I have to find a spot away from house, pay an extra charge for it and walk a mile to the home.

I would appreciate if you could ask your guest to leave that parking spot empty for me or another option is I will not be paying parking charges from next month.

Yours sincerely,

Krupa

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

The student covers all parts of the task well. The letter successfully describes the parking situation (reaching home at 10 p.m. and finding the spot taken by a guest's car), explains why it is frustrating (paying monthly charges yet having to park elsewhere, walk far, and pay extra), and suggests a practical solution (asking the guest to leave the spot empty or withholding the parking fee). The tone is appropriate for a formal complaint letter to a landlord. Ideas are well-developed throughout, meeting all the requirements of the prompt effectively without any omissions. Therefore, a band score of 7.0 is well-deserved for fully addressing the bullet points with a clear purpose and position.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The letter is logically organised with a clear beginning, middle, and end. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the introduction, description of the situation, explanation of the impact, and the concluding demand/solution. Cohesive devices are generally handled well, such as using 'Specifically', 'Although', and 'As you already know' to guide the reader through the text. However, referencing and transitional flow could be slightly smoother in places, such as the transition into the final paragraph. Overall, the arrangement is coherent and easy to follow, making this a solid performance that fits the band 7 descriptor well.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The student demonstrates an adequate and functional range of vocabulary suitable for a formal letter of complaint. Phrases like 'unavailability of my parking space', 'limited parking spots available', and 'tiring day at office' convey the message clearly. There are some attempts at less common lexical items, though a few awkward collocations appear, such as 'My regular parking spot is seen to taken' (missing 'be') and 'walk a mile to the home'. Word choices are mostly appropriate and communication is never impeded. The vocabulary is sufficient for the task, matching the band 6 criteria closely.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The writer uses a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, including subordinate clauses ('As you already know we have limited parking spots available' and 'Although I am paying parking charges every month'). There are several grammatical errors and awkward structures present, such as 'is seen to taken' instead of 'appears to be taken', 'one your guests' missing 'of', and 'atleast' as one word. Punctuation is generally acceptable, and while these errors are noticeable, they do not impede overall communication. The control of grammar aligns well with the band 6 descriptor.

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

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