Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Barron's Writing · 2026-09-16

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 Jameson,

I am writing this letter to express my concern in regards with the parking. I am a resident of City Point Apartment and I often has to face a problem as majority of times, I am unable to find any vacant spot to park my car.

I am working evening shift and I usually come home late around 10:30 PM. At that time, all the parking space has been occupied. Due to that reason, I have to park my car outside the parking lot and I often got charged from the higher authorities.

The alloted parking spot of mine is being used by other resident of the building. Despite, I never asked him to move his car because I do not want to create any misunderstandings between us.

I am formally requesting you to look into this matter and grant me a permission to park my vehicle in the basement. I would be completely fine with that decision as long as it will not bother anyone else. I hope you understand my concern.

I am looking forward to hearing from you.

Yours faithfully,

Anjali Patel

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

The student has successfully covered all parts of the letter prompt. The situation is clearly described in the opening paragraphs, explaining that the resident cannot find vacant spots after working the evening shift. The impact of the problem is well-explained through the mention of late-night arrivals and receiving parking fines outside the lot. Furthermore, a logical and practical suggestion is offered to the landlord regarding permission to park in the basement. The tone is appropriate for a formal letter to a landlord, and all bullet points are addressed effectively. There are no major omissions, and the ideas flow logically from problem to explanation to proposed solution, earning a solid band score for this criterion.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The letter exhibits a clear overall logical organization, breaking the points down into distinct, readable paragraphs. Each paragraph serves a specific function, moving from the initial greeting and statement of purpose to the description of the problem, the specific complications, and finally the suggested solution. Cohesive devices are used adequately, such as 'Due to that reason', 'Despite', and 'At that time'. However, some transitions feel slightly mechanical or are used with minor grammatical awkwardness, such as starting a sentence with 'Despite, I never asked him...'. Paragraphing is handled well, and the reader can easily follow the narrative arc of the complaint. Overall progression is clear, though slightly more sophisticated referencing would be required for a higher band.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting some less common lexical items such as 'vacant spot', 'evening shift', and 'formally requesting'. However, there are noticeable word choice and collocation errors that prevent a higher score. For example, writing 'in regards with the parking' contains a prepositional error (should be 'regarding' or 'in regard to'), and 'often got charged from the higher authorities' is unnatural for parking tickets. Additionally, 'alloted' is misspelled with a double 'l', and 'resident' in the third paragraph should be plural ('residents'). Despite these errors, communication is never impeded, and the vocabulary remains generally suitable for a semi-formal or formal request letter.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as conditional and relative clauses ('I would be completely fine with that decision as long as it will not bother anyone else'). However, there are frequent grammatical errors throughout the text. For instance, subject-verb agreement is broken in 'I often has to face', and verb tense consistency slips in 'all the parking space has been occupied' and 'as long as it will not bother' (should be 'would not'). Punctuation and article usage also show occasional inaccuracies. While these errors do not impede overall communication and the meaning remains clear, they restrict the grammar score because error-free sentences are not in the majority.

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

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