Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Barron's Writing · 2026-08-16

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 6.5)

Dear max,

I hope you are doing well, I am writing you regarding an interesting offer about my cycle. As i am moving to a different province for work. I no longer need that bike.

I remember, during our last conversation you have joined a run club in your locality and they also do biking hikes every weekends. I know you would like to join them and my cycle is best for you to get familiar with biking trips.

The cycle has 24 gears on both sides as well as disc brakes. It is a very comfortable cycle with all the security features included all together at very convenient price of $100. If you are interested I will also include a safety helmet in same pricing.

I would recommend giving it a thought, as i think it will be a perfect fit for someone like you. If you are interested, let me know by the end of this week.

Yours lovingly,

Malav Shah

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

You have addressed all three bullet points in the prompt: explaining why you are no longer using the bike, describing the bicycle, and explaining why your friend would like it. The tone is appropriate for a letter to a friend. The ideas are relevant and clearly presented. To reach a higher band, you could expand slightly more on the description of the bicycle to make it more persuasive, perhaps by mentioning its condition or how well it has been maintained, which would further develop the ideas.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The letter is logically organized into clear paragraphs, each serving a specific purpose. You use some cohesive devices, such as 'I remember' and 'If you are interested', which help the flow of the letter. However, the connection between sentences could be smoother. For example, the transition between the first and second paragraph is a bit abrupt. Using a wider variety of linking words or phrases would help improve the flow and make the progression of ideas feel more natural and less mechanical.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You use a sufficient range of vocabulary to convey your message clearly, such as 'locality', 'convenient price', and 'security features'. There are some minor issues with word choice, such as 'biking hikes' (which is slightly unnatural; 'cycling trips' or 'mountain biking' would be better) and 'in same pricing' (which should be 'at the same price'). While the vocabulary is adequate for the task, incorporating more precise collocations would elevate your writing to a higher band.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

You demonstrate a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. However, there are several punctuation and grammatical errors. For instance, 'As i am moving...' is a sentence fragment, and there are issues with capitalization (e.g., 'max', 'i'). Additionally, 'you have joined' should be 'you joined' to match the past time reference. While these errors do not impede communication, they are frequent enough to prevent a higher score. Focusing on sentence boundary control and consistent capitalization will significantly improve your accuracy.

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

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