Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Barron's Writing · 2026-10-05

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 Ms Verma,

I am writing to you regarding parking space issue when I come from work late night I never find empty space for my car so I have to park two street away from home . I would appreciate your help with this matter.

To begin with, As I informed you earlier that have night shifts as a security guard so when I come from work I was never find any free car space for my car.

Furthermore, I daily have to walk 2 kilometre to get home because I never find near parking space to home and its affect my health and sleep time.

Finally, I would be grateful if you could post my personal car space notice to on my parking space because there is always someone who take over my car space which make very hard for me.

Thank you for your time. I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours Sincerely,

Prabh

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The letter successfully covers all three key bullet points required by the task prompt. You clearly describe the parking situation in your apartment building's back lot, explain how it negatively affects your health and sleep after working night shifts, and suggest that the landlord could post a notice on your personal car space. However, some ideas are more fully developed than others. For instance, the explanation of the problem and the suggestion are somewhat repetitive, as seen when you mention multiple times that you cannot find a space and have to walk two streets or two kilometres away. To reach the next level, you should extend and support each point with greater variety and clarity rather than restating the same basic details.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

Your letter shows a coherent overall arrangement and follows a logical structure with a clear greeting and sign-off. You attempt to use cohesive devices and transition phrases such as 'To begin with', 'Furthermore', and 'Finally' to organise your thoughts. Nevertheless, referencing and cohesion are at times mechanical or faulty, as demonstrated by the abrupt transitions between sentences and the repetitive linking of ideas. Furthermore, paragraphing is not handled entirely appropriately, with some ideas clumped together awkwardly. To improve, you need to ensure smoother progression between sentences and use a wider variety of cohesive devices more naturally without over-relying on basic sequential markers.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully communicating your message with common words and phrases related to your situation, such as 'parking space', 'security guard', and 'night shifts'. However, there are noticeable vocabulary and word choice limitations, along with some errors that show a restricted range of less common items. For example, phrases like 'parking space issue', 'near parking space to home', and 'post my personal car space notice to on my parking space' display awkward collocations and imprecise wording. To achieve a higher band, you should aim to use a wider and more flexible range of vocabulary, incorporating less common lexical items with greater precision and natural stylistic control.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You demonstrate a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, attempting structures such as 'when I come from work late night I never find empty space'. However, your writing contains frequent grammar and punctuation errors that persist throughout the text. There are issues with verb tenses and consistency (e.g., mixing present and past forms like 'when I come... I was never find'), missing articles (e.g., 'two street away', 'near parking space'), and run-on sentences with inadequate punctuation. To improve, you need to exercise better control over basic grammatical patterns, plurals, and prepositions while ensuring that complex sentences are constructed accurately and punctuated correctly.

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

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