Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Barron's Writing · 2026-10-13

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 5.5)

Dear Taran,

Hello, how're you? Guess what ? I've a surprise for you. I made a plan for all of our old school friends that we are going on a trip for summer vacation.

It's a big house located on the bank of one of the famous lakes in our provice that's lake Louis. It has three bedrooms and two washrooms and all the necessary utilities are available inside the house such as laundry, pool, etcetera. The view from the house is really amazing as we can see the side view of the river from our house.

As we have arranged many fun activities while we are going to live there. We are planning to make our own food by ourselves so we can enjoy traditional food over there. I also make a plan to go for river rafting on the next of our stay as you know I love to do water activities.

You know what? You've to join us as well on the trip, as we haven't met for a long time and I know you are on a official break from your university.

Let me know if you need to add something in this trip and see you soon.

Love,

Ekonkar.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You address all three points: you describe the lakeside house, explain plans for cooking and rafting, and invite Taran to join the trip. The details about three bedrooms, two washrooms and the view help make the description relevant, while the invitation is clear. However, some ideas are less fully developed than others. The house description is brief, and the account of how you will spend your time focuses mainly on planned activities rather than what you are already doing there. The opening also says the trip is for a group of old school friends, but this arrangement could be explained more clearly. Add a little more specific detail about the house and your daily routine to make the letter more complete.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The letter has a recognisable structure, with separate paragraphs for the trip announcement, house, activities and invitation. This makes the main points easy to locate, and the friendly opening and closing suit a letter to a friend. However, progression is sometimes weakened by unclear links between ideas. For example, “As we have arranged many fun activities while we are going to live there” is an incomplete opening, and the shift from the house to activities would be smoother with a complete transition. Some linking phrases, such as “as” in the invitation paragraph, are used awkwardly. Organise the information in a clearer sequence and use straightforward links such as “While we’re there” or “I’d especially like to” to connect related details.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use enough vocabulary to communicate the main ideas, including “located on the bank,” “traditional food” and “river rafting.” The informal expressions “Guess what?” and “You know what?” also help establish a friendly tone. However, several word choices and collocations are unnatural or imprecise, such as “side view of the river,” “on the next of our stay” and “official break.” “Lake Louis” is also inconsistent with the task’s description of a lake, since you later refer to a river. These choices do not prevent understanding, but they reduce naturalness and precision. Aim for familiar, accurate phrases such as “view of the lake,” “the next day” and “university break,” and check spelling, including “province.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, and most of the message remains understandable. Some errors occur in verb forms, sentence construction and articles. For example, “I made a plan … that we are going” would be clearer as “I’ve planned for us to go,” while “As we have arranged many fun activities while we are going to live there” is not a complete sentence. In “I also make a plan,” the verb form should match the intended time, and “on a official break” needs the article “an.” Punctuation is also inconsistent, as in “Guess what ?” Practise forming complete sentences and checking tense and articles; this will make your varied sentence attempts more controlled.

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

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