Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Barron's Writing · 2026-09-21

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 landlord,

Hope you are doing well.I am writing this letter to raise a concern regarding the parking lot in back of the apartment.Actually, I am working for call center which is in sydney and my duty timings are 8:00am to 5:00 pm so most of the time when i get home from my work I cannot find empty parking spot for my car.It happened with me several times.I dont know who else use this parking space.

This situation makes me waiting more and even sometimes I have to go little far to park my car.That waste my time as well as money.I will be thankfull if you solve this problem as soon as possible. Also, I have sugestion, it would be great if you can put sign boards in front for every parking saying the name of parikng holder so that other person will not park there.Hope you understand my concern.

Thanks

Sincerely

Robin

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response successfully covers all three bullet points required in the task instructions. You clearly described the situation regarding the parking lot, explained why it bothers you by mentioning wasted time and money, and suggested a practical solution involving signboards with parking holders' names. The tone is appropriate for a letter to a landlord. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited and straightforward, which places this response comfortably at Band 6.0. To reach a higher band, the ideas could be extended further, perhaps by elaborating on the specific impact the lost time has on your work schedule, ensuring a more fully developed discussion throughout.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The letter maintains a clear overall progression from the introduction of the problem to the explanation of its impact and the final suggestion. However, paragraphing is poorly handled, with the entire body of the letter clumped together rather than separated into distinct thematic paragraphs for the situation, the impact, and the solution. Cohesive devices are basic and sometimes repetitive, such as 'Also' and 'This situation'. Referencing is generally clear, but the lack of proper paragraphing limits the score. Implementing clear paragraph breaks and a wider range of cohesive devices would significantly improve the structural flow of your writing.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

You use an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully communicating everyday concepts related to work and parking. However, there are several lexical errors and awkward word choices, such as 'working for call center which is in sydney' (missing articles and capitalization), 'duty timings', 'empty parking spot' (missing article), 'go little far', and 'sugestion' (spelling error). While these errors do not impede communication, they demonstrate a limited control of less common vocabulary and collocation. To achieve a higher band, you should incorporate more precise, natural phrasing and ensure correct spelling and article usage.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The response shows a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as the conditional structure 'it would be great if you can put sign boards'. There are, however, several grammatical inaccuracies throughout the text, including missing articles ('parking lot in back', 'get home from work', 'find empty parking spot'), punctuation errors ('well.I', 'work I'), and a lack of capitalization on proper nouns like 'sydney'. While these errors rarely impede overall communication, they occur frequently enough to prevent the grammar score from rising into the higher bands. Focusing on punctuation, capitalization, and article rules will help elevate your grammatical accuracy.

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

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