Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Barron's Writing · 2026-09-27

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 6.0)

Dear Friend, Hope you are well. I have bought a car three weeks back so now I was thinking of selling my bicycle. It is the same bicycle that rode once to meet your friend. My mother have bought it for me as a gift when I graduated from college 2 years back. So this bicycle is close to my heart. That's why I dont want to sell it to someone randomly. One of our common friend mentioned that you were also looking for a bicycle for your daily commute so I was thought to ask you if you are interested in buying my bicycle. I have all the registeration papers of this bicycle. The bicycle is in best condition. I recently changed its tyres too so you dont to worry about its maintainance. It's a well maintained bicycle. Just give me a message if you are interested. Thank you.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The response successfully covers all three bullet points required by the prompt. First, the writer explains why they are no longer using the bicycle by stating, 'I have bought a car three weeks back so now I was thinking of selling my bicycle.' Second, the bicycle is described adequately: 'It is the same bicycle that rode once to meet your friend' and 'My mother have bought it for me as a gift when I graduated from college 2 years back.' Finally, the reason why the friend would like it is provided through the mention of the friend's daily commute: 'One of our common friend mentioned that you were also looking for a bicycle for your daily commute.' The tone is appropriately informal and friendly throughout. All parts are addressed clearly, leading to a solid band 6.5 performance.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The letter maintains a coherent overall arrangement with a natural, conversational progression from greeting to the purpose of the message and closing. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'That's why' and 'So this bicycle is close to my heart.' However, the text suffers from a lack of proper paragraphing, as it is presented in one solid block of text. Furthermore, referencing and cohesion are occasionally basic or mechanical ('So', 'And'). While the message is easy to follow, the poor paragraphing prevents the response from achieving a higher score.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

The lexical resource is adequate for the task. The student uses appropriate everyday vocabulary related to owning and selling a bicycle, such as 'daily commute', 'registration papers', and 'maintainance'. However, there are some noticeable vocabulary and spelling inaccuracies, such as 'registeration' (spelling error) and 'maintainance' (spelling error). The writer also repeats words like 'bicycle' multiple times rather than utilizing pronouns or synonyms effectively. The range is sufficient to communicate the message clearly, but inaccuracies and repetition place it at a band 6.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

The response displays a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as 'One of our common friend mentioned that you were also looking for a bicycle...'. However, there are several grammatical errors throughout the text, including subject-verb agreement issues ('My mother have bought', 'common friend' instead of 'common friends'), tense inconsistencies ('so I was thought to ask you'), and missing prepositions or auxiliary verbs ('you dont to worry'). Despite these errors, communication is not impeded, and the meaning remains clear. This corresponds to the band 6 descriptor.

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

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