Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Barron's Writing · 2026-08-25

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 friend Kiran,

I hope you are doing well.

I am writing this letter to you regarding my bicycle .you know I have a car now I just purchased it last month and I also know that you are going at your workplace by bus .so I would like to sell you if you want to purchase because your work is stone throw away from your home so if you have a bicycle you can go on time rather than walking even you can go early. The condition of the bicycle is new I just changed the tyres of the bicycles and got new one .I also have a comfortable sheet to sit down and also have a black seat you can put your bag over there or someone can sit behind you .I would like to sell my bicycle in 60$ you were with me when I purchase at that time I took in 100 $ but due to the second hand I will give you the discount .Please let me know if you want to purchase I will save it for you.

Your friend ,

Prabhjeet kaur

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

You have addressed all three bullet points required by the task: explaining why you are no longer using the bike, describing it, and explaining why your friend would benefit from it. The tone is appropriate for a letter to a friend. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited. For example, the description of the bicycle is a bit repetitive and lacks specific details that would make the bike sound appealing, such as the brand, color, or gear system. To improve, try to expand on your points with more descriptive language and ensure the flow between the reasons for selling and the description is smoother.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The letter is generally easy to follow, but it lacks clear paragraphing. The entire body of the letter is written as one long block of text, which makes it difficult for the reader to distinguish between the different points you are making. You should use separate paragraphs for each bullet point to improve the structure. Additionally, the use of cohesive devices is quite limited; you rely heavily on simple conjunctions like 'and' or 'so'. Using a wider variety of linking words (e.g., 'furthermore', 'consequently', 'in addition') would help the ideas flow more naturally.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

Your vocabulary is sufficient to communicate your message, but it is quite basic and contains some inaccuracies. For instance, you use 'stone throw away' (the correct idiom is 'a stone's throw away') and 'comfortable sheet' (likely meaning 'seat'). The phrase 'due to the second hand' is also unnatural. To reach a higher band, you should aim to use more precise vocabulary related to bicycles and selling items. Avoid repeating words like 'purchase' and 'bicycle' too frequently; try using synonyms or pronouns to make your writing more varied and engaging.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

There are frequent errors in grammar and punctuation throughout the letter. You often omit necessary articles (e.g., 'going at your workplace' should be 'going to your workplace') and struggle with sentence boundaries, leading to run-on sentences. For example, 'you know I have a car now I just purchased it last month' should be punctuated as two separate sentences. While your meaning is generally clear, these errors are frequent enough to cause some difficulty for the reader. Focusing on basic sentence structure and subject-verb agreement will help improve your accuracy significantly.

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

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