Band 4.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.0 · Barron's Writing · 2026-09-21

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 4.0)

I hope you feel great i regarding to write a litter about my cycle to you

You alrady know i used my cycle for three years and now my heart is full of my old cycle i not feel good riding on my former cycle thanks to using for long time.

these are Japani cycle its colour is read and blue in addition the cycle ream is maded from alloy, there are one disk break and two padel blue lights, one lock with two keys, and soft set. with small pillow.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 4.0

The response covers some parts of the task, such as briefly mentioning the bicycle's history and features. However, the explanation of why you are no longer using it and why your friend would like it is extremely sparse and underdeveloped. For instance, writing that 'my heart is full of my old cycle' lacks clarity and does not adequately fulfill the bullet points. Furthermore, the response falls severely short of the 150-word minimum, containing only 91 words. This major under-length issue heavily restricts task achievement, resulting in a low band score.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 4.0

The text lacks proper paragraphing and structural organisation, appearing as a fragmented block of text with irregular spacing. Cohesive devices are minimal or misused, such as 'i regarding to write a litter' and 'in addition the cycle ream is maded from alloy', which makes the progression of ideas disjointed. While the letter opens with a standard informal greeting ('Dear'), the flow of thoughts is abrupt and difficult to follow. There is a lack of logical transitions between sentences, pulling the score down into the lower bands.

Lexical Resource — Band 4.5

Vocabulary is very basic, repetitive, and heavily constrained. The student uses simple terms like 'cycle', 'colour', 'keys', and 'lights'. There are also numerous spelling and word-choice errors, such as 'litter' instead of 'letter', 'alrady' instead of 'already', 'ream' instead of 'rim', 'maded' instead of 'made', 'padel' instead of 'pedal', and 'set' instead of 'seat'. These frequent errors strain the reader and reflect a limited lexical range that is inadequate for a higher band.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 4.0

The grammatical structures attempted are very simple, and sentences frequently lack basic punctuation and capitalization. Examples of severe grammatical errors include 'i regarding to write a litter', 'i not feel good riding', and 'these are Japani cycle its colour is read and blue'. There is a complete lack of complex sentence forms, and control over basic verb tenses, subject-verb agreement, and sentence boundaries is weak. Errors are frequent and often distort the intended meaning, matching the descriptors for a band 4.0.

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

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