Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Barron's Writing · 2026-08-26

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 Priya,

Hope you are doing well, I writing this to let you know about selling my bicycle.

Well, i am using it since two years and now i buy a car and mostly i travel by car. Before i used bicycle to go school but now school has finished and no longer i am using this. I do not want it become damage as no one using it.

My bicycle is well maintained and looks like brand new. I do not have any problem with that neither it has any maintenance expenses.

I remember we both went together to buy it and it was selected by you and you told you also will buy same as me but then you did not get it. Also it is well managed by myself. So, you definitely like it also i am thinking about to sell it in half of market price which is great deal for you.

Your friend

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

You have addressed all three bullet points in the prompt: explaining why you are no longer using the bike, describing it, and explaining why your friend would like 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 quite brief, focusing mostly on its maintenance rather than its features (e.g., type, color, or condition). To reach a higher band, you should expand on these points with more descriptive detail to fully engage the reader.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The letter is organized into logical paragraphs, which helps the reader follow your message. You use some basic cohesive devices like 'also' and 'so'. However, the flow between sentences is sometimes a bit mechanical, and the transition between the description of the bike and the reason why the friend would like it is slightly abrupt. Improving the use of linking words and ensuring that referencing (e.g., 'it', 'that') is always clear would help improve the overall flow of your writing.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task but remains quite basic. Phrases like 'well maintained' and 'brand new' are functional but common. There are some minor errors in word choice, such as 'no longer i am using this' instead of 'I am no longer using it' and 'it become damage' instead of 'it becomes damaged'. To improve, try to incorporate more precise adjectives and varied collocations to describe the condition and value of the bicycle.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

There are frequent grammatical errors throughout the text, particularly with verb tenses and sentence structure. For instance, 'i am using it since two years' should be 'I have been using it for two years', and 'i buy a car' should be 'I bought a car'. Additionally, there are issues with subject-verb agreement and word order, such as 'no one using it' instead of 'no one is using it'. While the meaning is generally clear, these errors are persistent and affect the overall accuracy of your writing.

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

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