Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Barron's Writing · 2026-09-01

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

You have rented a house by a lake for the summer.

Write a letter to a friend. In your letter
• describe the house.
• describe how you are spending your time there.
• invite your friend to come and visit.

You do NOT need to write any addresses.

Begin your letter as follows:

Dear ____

Student answer (Band 5.0)

Dear friend,

I hope you are doing well. I want to tell you that I have rented a house beside the lake. I am enjoying there alot, Because it is my first experience by living near a beautiful lake.

Firstly, my house is very big and nice. There are a lot of facilities here like fully furnished, master bedroom, beautiful kitchen and bathroom. Moreover, the viewpoint from my house is very lovely.

Secondly, I spend my lesure

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 4.0

The response is significantly under the 150-word minimum requirement, which severely impacts the task achievement. While you have attempted to address the bullet points by describing the house and mentioning your activities, the letter is incomplete and cuts off mid-sentence. Because the response is less than 80 words, it fails to develop the ideas sufficiently to meet the requirements of the task. To improve, you must ensure you complete all parts of the prompt and provide enough detail to reach the word count, ensuring the letter has a proper conclusion.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The letter uses basic cohesive devices such as 'Firstly' and 'Moreover' to organize ideas, which provides a simple logical structure. However, because the text is unfinished, the overall progression is interrupted. Paragraphing is attempted, but the lack of a conclusion makes the flow feel abrupt. To improve, focus on linking your ideas more smoothly and ensuring that each paragraph is fully developed before moving to the next point, and always include a closing salutation.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is functional but limited. You rely on basic adjectives like 'big' and 'nice' and phrases like 'a lot of'. There are also minor errors, such as 'lesure' (spelling) and 'by living' (collocation). To achieve a higher band, you should aim to use more precise descriptive language to paint a picture for your friend, such as using 'spacious' instead of 'big' or 'breathtaking' instead of 'lovely'. Expanding your range of vocabulary will help make your writing more engaging.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The response contains a mix of simple sentence structures. There are several grammatical errors, such as 'I am enjoying there alot' (should be 'I am enjoying it here a lot') and 'experience by living' (should be 'experience of living'). Punctuation is also inconsistent, particularly with the unnecessary capitalization of 'Because'. To improve, focus on subject-verb agreement and correct preposition usage. Try to incorporate a wider variety of sentence structures, such as using relative clauses or complex sentences, while ensuring you proofread for basic errors.

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

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