Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Barron's Writing · 2026-08-14

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)

Dear Ms Sharma ,

I am writing to inform you that there is continuous noise coming from upstairs at night.

every night the voices from upstairs heat my head and make it more difficult or challenging to sleep. to prevent from the morning consequences I took pills every night to sleep well because of early office hours.

it really cause difficulty for me to wake up early morning. my office starts at 8am . so , I need to go to bed early .on the other hand waking restless ruins my whole day and headache occurs . and it is very detracting for me to focus on work . recently I had an important meeting at work while I slept late last night results in late arrival at office and my boss gives me demerit points .

for this can you please Low the volume of your television and talk slowly on phones so that nobody in the building face any difficulty.

I look forward to hear from you.

yours sincerely

Ritika Vaid

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The letter covers all three bullet points: describing the noise, explaining the impact, and suggesting a solution. However, the development of ideas is somewhat repetitive, focusing heavily on the writer's personal fatigue rather than providing a balanced account of the situation. The tone is generally appropriate for a formal complaint to a neighbour, though it occasionally slips into overly dramatic language, such as 'heat my head'. To reach a higher band, the ideas could be more concisely structured to ensure the focus remains on the request for change rather than just the personal consequences.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The letter lacks clear paragraphing, which is essential for a formal letter. The ideas are presented in a single block, making the progression of the argument feel somewhat cluttered. While there are some cohesive devices used, such as 'on the other hand' and 'for this', they are not always used accurately or effectively. The transition between describing the problem and suggesting a solution is abrupt. Improving the use of paragraph breaks and more varied linking words would significantly enhance the logical flow of the letter.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is adequate for the task but lacks precision and variety. Phrases like 'heat my head' are unnatural and do not convey the intended meaning clearly. There are also some awkward collocations, such as 'detracting for me' and 'demerit points', which are not standard in this context. While the message is understandable, the range of vocabulary is limited, and the student relies on basic structures. Incorporating more precise, natural-sounding collocations would improve the quality of the writing.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

There are frequent grammatical errors throughout the text, including issues with verb tense consistency ('results in late arrival' should be 'resulted in'), article usage, and sentence structure. For example, 'I took pills every night' should be 'I have been taking pills'. Punctuation is also inconsistent, with unnecessary spaces before commas and periods. While the meaning is generally clear, the high frequency of errors in basic sentence construction prevents the writing from reaching a higher band. A focus on subject-verb agreement and proper punctuation is recommended.

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

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