Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Barron's Writing · 2026-09-14

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 6.5)

Dear Sam,

I hope your doing well. I would like to inform you that I have deceide to sell my bicycle to you as I am no longer using it for my daily commute.

As you already aware that I am soon going to join college which is far away from my locatoin and i need to find other mode of transport to commute to save time everyday. Also by doing this I can utilize this extra time on my studies and other fitness activites like workout and running.

I would like to give you a discription of bicycle that might help you to decide. colour of bicycle is grey and its s sports model with 6 gear. conditon of bicycle is excellent as i have used it very carefully.

I think that this bicycle going to save your time and cost as you are looking to buy a new one which might cost you more. I hope this helps you to take decision and let me know if you wanna come and visit to have a look personally.

your friend,

Ravi

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

The response successfully covers all three bullet points required by the task instructions. Ravi explains that he is no longer using the bicycle for his daily commute because he is starting college further away and needs to save time. He describes the bicycle as a grey sports model with six gears and notes its excellent condition. Finally, he explains why Sam would like it, mentioning that it will save time and cost compared to buying a brand-new one. The tone is appropriately informal and friendly throughout, suitable for a letter to a friend. The purpose of the letter is clear, and all ideas are adequately supported and developed, earning a solid band score for task achievement.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The letter is logically organised with a clear beginning and ending. It is divided into appropriate paragraphs, each focusing on a specific part of the prompt (the reason for selling, the description, and the benefits for the friend). However, cohesive devices are sometimes basic or missing. For instance, transitions between sentences can feel slightly abrupt, such as starting paragraphs with 'Also by doing this' or 'colour of bicycle'. Pronoun referencing is generally clear, though occasional minor lapses occur. Paragraphing is used sufficiently and appropriately, but greater flexibility and variety in cohesive ties would be needed to reach higher bands.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

Ravi demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting some less common collocations like 'daily commute' and 'fitness activities'. However, there are noticeable word choice and spelling inaccuracies, such as 'deceide' instead of decided, 'locatoin' instead of location, and 'discription' instead of description. Phrases like 'colour of bicycle is grey' omit necessary articles, and 'wanna come and visit' is overly informal even for a friendly letter. While communication is never impeded, these lexical slips and spelling errors place the response firmly in the band 6 category.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The writer uses a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as 'I would like to inform you that I have decided...' and 'I think that this bicycle going to save your time...'. There are several grammatical errors and omissions throughout the text, including missing articles ('colour of bicycle', 'sports model'), a missing auxiliary verb ('this bicycle going to save'), and a typo in the opening greeting ('your doing well'). Punctuation is generally acceptable, and while these errors do not impede communication, they occur frequently enough to prevent the response from achieving a higher band score.

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

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