Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Barron's Writing · 2026-08-13

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

You live in a small apartment building. You are frequently bothered by noise from your upstairs neighbour's apartment.

Write a letter to your neighbour. In your letter
• describe the situation.
• explain why it is a problem for you.
• suggest a solution.

You do NOT need to write any addresses.

Begin your letter as follows:

Dear _________,

Student answer (Band 5.5)

Hi

I am your next-door person. My name is Gurjot. I am writing this letter to you because I am facing a noise problem.

As I have work in the morning, the only time I have is at night when I can take good sleep and relax my mind. I know you have children; if you can, please tell your children to make less noise at night time. That would be appreciated.

It is not only happening at night, but sometimes I face noise in the morning time also when I have a holiday and we can solve this problem by meeting face to face and having a conversation with a cup of tea. I also love children; I really like to talk to you.

I hope you will understand my point of view.

Your neighbour

Gurjot Kaur

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

You have addressed all three bullet points: describing the noise, explaining why it is a problem, and suggesting a solution. However, the response is under the 150-word minimum, which significantly impacts the development of your ideas. The explanation of the problem is somewhat brief, and the tone is a bit informal for a formal letter to a neighbour. To improve, you should expand on the specific nature of the noise and the impact it has on your daily life. Because the response is under-length, it does not fully satisfy the requirements of the task.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The letter is logically organized, moving from the introduction to the problem and finally the proposed solution. However, the paragraphing is weak; the text is essentially one large block, which makes it difficult to follow. You should use clear paragraph breaks to separate the introduction, the body of the complaint, and the closing. While you use some basic cohesive devices like 'As I have' and 'It is not only', the flow between sentences is somewhat mechanical. Improving your use of linking words would help create a smoother progression of ideas.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

Your vocabulary is adequate for the task but remains quite basic. Phrases like 'facing a noise problem' and 'make less noise' are functional but lack variety. You rely on simple, repetitive sentence structures and common words. To achieve a higher band, try to incorporate more precise vocabulary related to the situation, such as 'persistent disturbance,' 'incessant noise,' or 'mutually agreeable solution.' You have successfully communicated your message, but the range of vocabulary is limited and does not demonstrate the flexibility required for higher bands.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

You use a mix of simple and compound sentences, which is generally clear. However, there are some grammatical inaccuracies, such as 'I am your next-door person' (which sounds unnatural) and 'the only time I have is at night when I can take good sleep' (should be 'get some sleep'). There are also minor punctuation issues. While these errors do not prevent the reader from understanding your meaning, they indicate a lack of control over more complex structures. Focusing on sentence variety and correct article usage would improve your score.

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

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