Band 7.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 7.5 · Barron's Writing · 2026-10-19

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 7.5)

Dear Mr Smith,

I am writing to inform you about the difficulty I have been facing with finding an empty parking space whenever I get back home from work in the evening. Before now, it was only I and Mr Joseph that own a car, so we were able to manage the parking lot behind the building. However, when another occupant with a vehicle moved into the building, the parking lot became inadequte for all of us to park our vehicles. So, since I get back home later than others, I am often left with no available space to park my car.

As a result, I often have to leave my car by the roadside in front of our home. However, I am not satisfied with this situation because I am not guaranteed of the safety of my vehicle in this location. Especially with the recent increase in the frequency of theft in the neigbourhood.

I would like to suggest that we create a larger area in the building to accomodate all our vehicles. If you wouldn't mind, the mango tree beside the parking lot can be taken down to extend the area, so that we can have enough space behind the apartment to park our automobiles.

I hope my suggestion is taken into consideration and I look forward to a positive response.

Yours Sincerely,

Mariam

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 8.0

The letter fully addresses the three requested points: you describe how the additional car has made parking inadequate, explain that roadside parking worries you because of theft, and propose extending the lot. The explanation that you return later than the other residents makes the problem specific, while the suggestion to remove the mango tree gives the landlord a concrete option to consider. Your purpose and polite request remain clear throughout. To make the response even more complete, briefly acknowledge any practical consideration, such as asking whether the tree can be removed safely or whether another parking arrangement is possible. This would add a little nuance to an already well-developed and relevant letter.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 7.5

The information is arranged in a clear progression: the parking problem is introduced, its effect on you is explained, and a solution is proposed before the closing. Paragraphing supports this sequence, and links such as “However,” “As a result,” and “I would like to suggest” help the reader follow the argument. The contrast between the earlier parking situation and the arrival of another car is also easy to understand. Some transitions are slightly repetitive, particularly the repeated use of “However,” and the sentence beginning “Especially with…” is detached from the sentence before it. Connecting that reason directly to the safety concern would make the flow more consistently smooth.

Lexical Resource: Band 7.0

You use a sufficient range of vocabulary to explain the issue and make a specific proposal, including “inadequate,” “frequency of theft,” “extend the area,” and “taken into consideration.” The tone is generally appropriate for a polite letter to a landlord. Some choices are less natural or precise: “create a larger area” could be expressed more idiomatically as “expand the parking area,” and “automobiles” sounds unnecessarily formal in this context. There are also spelling errors in “inadequte,” “neigbourhood,” and “accomodate.” These do not prevent understanding, but careful proofreading and more natural collocations would improve precision and control.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 7.0

The letter includes a useful mix of simple and complex structures, such as the clause beginning “whenever I get back home” and the conditional suggestion “If you wouldn’t mind, the mango tree… can be taken down.” Many sentences are clear and grammatically controlled. A few errors remain: “it was only I and Mr Joseph that own a car” has an awkward subject construction and inconsistent tense; “I am not guaranteed of the safety” uses an incorrect grammatical pattern; and “Especially with the recent increase…” is a sentence fragment. The comma after “However” in “However, when another occupant…” is correct, but the fragment should be joined to the preceding sentence. Revising these points would make the varied structures more consistently accurate.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.