Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Barron's Writing · 2026-11-04

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 Tony,

Hey! how are you doing? its a long time since we had catch up together.I am dying to see you.

To begin,I had rented a house for few months near a amazing lake pass by my backyard.It has a lovely view of mountains and sunrise when i wake up.Apart from this,It is a three bed room house with one master bed room and couple of extra bathrooms upstairs as well as downstairs. It also has a double car garage parking.Hence if you bring your car i have a space for you.

Well i am running very busy because i work at two places to save some money for my birthday.Which i am planning to celebrate here in july.Therefore, i hardly get time to take rest.

On the other hand, for my birthday i am inviting you in advance, I am going to organise a party.So just make sure take some day off from your job. By this you will get chance to see my house too.

looking forward for your reply.

Yours lovingly,

Nav

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You address all three points: you describe the lakeside setting and house, explain that you are working at two jobs and planning a birthday celebration, and invite Tony to visit. Details such as the mountain view and the offer of garage space make the invitation personal. However, the description of how you spend your time is less fully developed: the focus is on being busy and having little time to rest, rather than on what you do around the lake or at home. The invitation is also tied mainly to the birthday party, with limited practical detail about when to visit or what you could do together. Developing these parts more clearly would make the response more complete.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The letter has a clear overall arrangement: a friendly opening, a paragraph about the house, one about your routine, and a final invitation and sign-off. This makes the main points easy to locate. You also use linking expressions such as “Apart from this,” “Well,” and “On the other hand.” At times, however, these links feel mechanical or do not show a clear contrast; “On the other hand” does not naturally connect the invitation to your busy schedule. Some sentences also run together, as in the opening, which weakens the flow. Use paragraph breaks and punctuation consistently, and choose transitions that express the actual relationship between ideas.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use enough vocabulary to communicate the main details and maintain a friendly tone, including “lovely view,” “master bedroom,” “double car garage,” and “organise a party.” The language is generally understandable, but several word choices and collocations are inaccurate or awkward, such as “a amazing lake pass by my backyard,” “garage parking,” and “make sure take some day off.” These reduce naturalness and sometimes make the reader pause. There is also some repetition of basic expressions such as “house” and “time.” Aim for more precise phrases for the setting and activities, and check spelling and word forms, including “bedroom” and “organise,” to make your vocabulary more controlled.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt a mix of simple and more complex sentences, including a reason clause in “because i work at two places to save some money” and a conditional invitation about bringing a car. The message remains understandable, but some errors in sentence boundaries, articles, verb forms, and punctuation are noticeable. For example, “its a long time since we had catch up together” needs a more accurate tense and verb pattern, while “Which i am planning to celebrate here in july” is an incomplete sentence. Capitalisation and punctuation are also inconsistent. Practise forming complete sentences and checking articles and verb patterns; this will help you express the same ideas more smoothly and accurately.

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

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