Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Barron's Writing · 2026-10-26

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 6.5)

Dear Sheenu,

Hope you are doing well! I am wriitng this letter regarding my bicycle which i want to sell.I don't use this bicycle anymore and it reminds me that you were looking for one before. I can assure it would be very useful to you if you purchase it from me.

You know I am working from home since Covid-19 hit and since then i never used it for my office travel. I don't do groceries or shopping by myself alone so never had a chance to use it for these purposes. It had been sitting this like this in garage that long.

I purchased that cycle brand new in 2020 from Hero cycles. It is a hybrid cycle. A person can cycle manually and can also use as an automatic cycle. It includes gear changes when runs in automatic mode.

I know you travel everyday to work by walking so that you can stay active.My bicycle can help you reach your workplace early and can still help you keep you fit. Moreover, you can use it for other physical activities like you often go in mountains on weekends and can do a bike ride there.

Looking forward to hear from you soon!

Yours lovingly,

Preet

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.5

The letter clearly addresses all three points: you explain that working from home has stopped you cycling to the office, describe the bicycle as a 2020 Hero hybrid with gears, and connect it to your friend’s commute and weekend mountain trips. The friendly opening and closing also suit a letter to a friend. Your reasons are relevant and generally supported, especially the link between cycling and staying active. To make the response more fully developed, clarify the bicycle’s features and condition—for example, explain what “automatic” mode means—and make the offer and sale arrangements more explicit, such as asking whether your friend is interested or naming a price. These additions would make the purpose more complete and persuasive.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 7.0

The ideas follow a clear sequence: the reason for writing, why you no longer use the bicycle, its description, and why it may suit your friend. Separate paragraphs help the reader follow these points, and transitions such as “Moreover” make the final paragraph’s additional benefit clear. The letter is easy to understand overall. Some connections are less smooth, however: “I don't use this bicycle anymore and it reminds me that you were looking for one before” combines the offer and the reminder awkwardly, while “It had been sitting this like this in garage that long” interrupts the progression. Use clearer links between sentences and ensure references such as “it” and “that” point unmistakably to the bicycle or its features.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use enough vocabulary to communicate the main ideas, including “hybrid cycle,” “gear changes,” “workplace,” and “physical activities.” The tone is appropriately friendly, and the vocabulary is relevant to the topic. However, the range is limited and several word choices or collocations sound unnatural, such as “office travel,” “do groceries,” “sitting this like this,” and “reach your workplace early.” There are also noticeable spelling and form errors, including “wriitng” and “everyday” where “every day” is intended. These do not prevent the reader from understanding the letter, but they reduce precision and naturalness. Build a wider set of accurate phrases for commuting, bicycle condition, and making a sale.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The letter includes both simple sentences and attempts at more complex structures, such as “I know you travel everyday to work by walking so that you can stay active.” The overall meaning remains clear, but errors occur often enough to make control inconsistent. Examples include missing capitalization in “i,” the run-on punctuation in “sell.I,” and faulty constructions such as “I can assure it would be very useful” and “can still help you keep you fit.” Tense and article choices also need attention in “I am working from home since Covid-19 hit” and “in garage.” Practise checking subject–verb patterns, pronouns, articles, and sentence boundaries; more accurate control of these structures would make the letter smoother.

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

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