Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Barron's Writing · 2026-08-18

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 John,

I hope you are doing well. I am happy to tell you that I have a bicycle, which I want to sell. I think it suits you well as you already asked me for this.

I moved to another area, which is a quite far from my workplace. Therefore, I am using public transportation to commute to office instead of bicycle. As a result, I not using it regularly and don't get enough time to utilize it.

I have bought this bicycle six months ago. It is a new model which was launched by the Universal company six months ago and have several features. It has LED screen, which demonstrate speed and distance. This bicycle can be used for both regular use and sports activities.

I think this bicycle is best for you as you already told me that you were thinking about buying a same bicycle. It is very new in condition and suits you better as you already a part of cycle club. So, you can use this bicycle in racing as well.

Looking forward to your response.

Kind regards,

Hardik

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The letter covers all three bullet points effectively. You explain why you are selling the bike (moved further from work), describe the bike (Universal model, LED screen), and explain why your friend would like it (he is in a cycle club). The tone is appropriate for a letter to a friend. To reach a higher band, you could expand slightly more on the description of the bike or the specific benefits for your friend to ensure the ideas are fully developed rather than just mentioned.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The letter is logically organized with clear paragraphing. Each paragraph focuses on one of the bullet points, which makes the letter easy to follow. You use some cohesive devices like 'Therefore' and 'As a result' to link ideas. However, some transitions feel a bit mechanical, and there is occasional repetition of phrases like 'as you already'. Improving the variety of linking words and ensuring smoother transitions between sentences would help achieve a higher score.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You have an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, such as 'commute', 'utilize', and 'demonstrate'. However, there are some word choice errors, such as 'I have bought this bicycle six months ago' (should be 'I bought') and 'very new in condition' (should be 'in excellent condition'). To improve, focus on using more natural collocations and ensuring that your vocabulary choices are precise for the context of selling an item.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are several grammatical errors that occur throughout the text, such as 'I not using it' (missing auxiliary verb), 'which is a quite far' (incorrect article usage), and 'buying a same bicycle' (incorrect article). While these errors do not impede communication, they are frequent enough to prevent a higher score. Focus on subject-verb agreement and the correct use of articles to improve your accuracy.

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

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