Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Barron's Writing · 2026-08-11

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

You have a bicycle that you are no longer using. You would like to sell it to a friend.

Write a letter to your friend. In your letter
• explain why you are no longer using your bicycle.
• describe your bicycle.
• explain why you think your friend would like to have it.

You do NOT need to write any addresses.

Begin your letter as follows:

Dear _________,

Student answer (Band 5.0)

Dear Emily,

I hope you are doing well. I'm thrilled to hear the news that you have bought a new house in the downtown area of Kamloops. My heartiest congratulations to you for achieving this milestone. I know you were working around the clock to gain financial stability. Ultimately, you are successful to own a house.

I am eager to know about your house. How many bedrooms it contain? Most importantly, what about the surroundings? Are your new neighbours helpful and friendly? I heard that all the basic amenities are nearby so it can provide you a comfortable lifestyle.

I have a keen interest to visit you. I will be amazed to meet you personally, and we can celebrate this achievement together. I have planned a big surprise for you in the form of a gift! Keep guessing with a smile! Tell me on which weekend I can catch you up.

I can't wait to hear from you. All the best for your future endeavours.

Yours lovingly,

Kath

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 2.0

The response fails to address the task requirements entirely. The prompt specifically asks you to write a letter to a friend about selling a bicycle, including explaining why you are no longer using it, describing the bicycle, and explaining why your friend would like it. Your response is a letter congratulating a friend on a new house and asking about their living situation. Because you did not mention the bicycle or the sale at all, the task has not been addressed. In an IELTS exam, this would result in a very low score for Task Achievement as the content is completely off-topic.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The letter is well-structured in terms of paragraphing and logical flow. You use appropriate greetings and sign-offs, and the transition between congratulating your friend and asking about the house is smooth. You use cohesive devices such as 'Most importantly' and 'Ultimately' to link ideas. However, because the content is irrelevant to the prompt, the overall coherence of the task response is undermined. If the content had been on-topic, this would be a much stronger score.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate a good range of vocabulary, such as 'milestone', 'financial stability', 'endeavours', and 'amenities'. The language is natural and appropriate for an informal letter to a friend. There are no significant spelling or word-choice errors that impede communication. While the vocabulary is good, it is being used to discuss the wrong topic, which limits the score for this criterion in the context of an IELTS task.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures effectively. For example, 'I know you were working around the clock to gain financial stability' is grammatically sound. There are minor errors, such as 'How many bedrooms it contain?' which should be 'How many bedrooms does it contain?' and 'you are successful to own a house' which is slightly unnatural compared to 'you have succeeded in owning a house'. Overall, your control of grammar is quite good, with few errors that hinder understanding.

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

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