Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Barron's Writing · 2026-08-14

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 5.5)

Dear sara

I hope you are well.

I am writing to ask you if you would interested in my bicycle. I recently buy a car for my daily works so I hardly use bicycle. So, I think instead of standing the bicycle in my garage I will sell it to you. I know you like to do cycling. You often go for cycling in a weekend.

It is well maintained cycle for rides.I serviced it every month.I newly buy it but now I don’t need it so think to sell this. You drive it everywhere. It is very good for monuntaing. I has steel frame it builds very strongly. I can also offer it to you in reasonable price.

Let me know if you are interested in it .

Best wishes

Priya

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The letter covers all three bullet points: explaining why you are no longer using the bicycle, describing it, and suggesting why your friend would like it. However, the response is significantly under the 150-word minimum, which limits the development of your ideas. While you mention the bike is for 'monuntaing' and has a 'steel frame', these points are brief. To improve, you should expand on the description of the bike and provide more detail about your friend's cycling habits to fully develop the response. Because the length requirement was not met, the score is penalized.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The letter is organized into a logical sequence, starting with the purpose of the letter, followed by the description, and ending with a call to action. However, the use of cohesive devices is quite limited and mechanical. You rely heavily on simple sentence structures, and there is a lack of linking words to connect your ideas smoothly (e.g., using 'So' repeatedly at the start of sentences). Paragraphing is also insufficient; the body of the letter should be clearly divided into distinct paragraphs for each bullet point to improve readability and flow.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is basic and repetitive. You use simple terms like 'buy' and 'use' throughout the text. There are also some errors in word choice and spelling, such as 'monuntaing' (mountain biking) and 'newly buy it' (recently purchased). To reach a higher band, you need to demonstrate a wider range of vocabulary related to cycling and selling items. For example, instead of 'well maintained', you could use 'meticulously cared for'. You should also focus on correct collocations to ensure your writing sounds more natural.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

There are frequent grammatical errors that occasionally impede the flow of the text. Issues include tense errors ('I recently buy' instead of 'I recently bought'), subject-verb agreement ('I has steel frame' instead of 'It has a steel frame'), and awkward phrasing ('instead of standing the bicycle in my garage'). You rely almost exclusively on simple sentences. To improve, you need to incorporate a mix of complex sentence structures (using relative clauses or conditional sentences) and ensure that your verb tenses are consistent throughout the letter.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.