Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Barron's Writing · 2026-09-11

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 6.5)

Hello Sam,

How're you? It has been so long since we met. Guess what? I have rented a house by a lake for the summer.

I am glad to inform you, this house is very spacious and comfortable. I can enjoy the view of the lake by standing in the balcony. Plus, the backyard is big with a lot of greenery. Every room has a beautiful view from the window.

I decorated every room, and every evening I enjoy barbecue at the lake. Additionally, the lake has very night fire works, which I enjoy by standing on the terrace of my house. Once a week I pick organic vegetables from the backyard. Furthermore, I am getting enough sunlight at the terrace, helping me to recover from the vitamin D deficiency.

Why are you not joining me? As far as I know, you have summer holidays next month. I have also vacation next month. We will enjoy together. Let me know when are you coming.

Hope to meet you soon.

Love,

Poonam

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

You have successfully addressed all three bullet points in the prompt. You described the house as spacious and comfortable, detailed your daily activities like barbecuing and gardening, and extended a clear invitation to your friend. The tone is appropriate for a letter to a friend, maintaining a friendly and informal register throughout. The ideas are relevant and well-developed, ensuring the reader gets a clear picture of your summer experience. To reach a higher band, ensure that your descriptions are slightly more vivid to fully engage the reader, but overall, the task requirements are fully met.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The letter follows a logical progression, moving from the introduction to the house description, then to daily activities, and finally the invitation. You use some cohesive devices such as 'Plus', 'Additionally', and 'Furthermore' to link your ideas. However, some of these transitions feel slightly mechanical or repetitive in their placement at the start of sentences. Paragraphing is used to separate the different topics, which helps the reader follow your points easily. To improve, try to vary your linking words and use more sophisticated referencing to connect sentences more fluidly.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You have an adequate range of vocabulary to convey your message clearly. Phrases like 'vitamin D deficiency' and 'organic vegetables' are used correctly. However, there are some minor inaccuracies in word choice, such as 'very night fire works' (which should be 'nightly fireworks') and 'I have also vacation' (which should be 'I also have a vacation'). The vocabulary is generally functional but lacks the range of less common or more precise collocations that would demonstrate a higher level of lexical control. Focusing on natural word combinations will help improve this score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

You demonstrate a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is always clear, there are several grammatical slips, such as 'How're you?' (which is informal but acceptable, though 'How are you?' is safer), 'standing in the balcony' (should be 'on the balcony'), and 'when are you coming' (which should be 'when you are coming' in an indirect question). Punctuation is generally fine, but there are minor errors in article usage and preposition choice. The errors do not impede communication, but they occur frequently enough to prevent a higher band score.

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

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