Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Barron's Writing · 2026-08-20

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 6.0)

Dear Raman,

Hope you are doing well. I want to tell you about the noise from upstairs during evening time. I am early going for my shift and in the evening time I face a lot of problems because of noise from upstairs it disturbs my sleep and it is very hard for me to wake up early in the morning when I sleep late at night because of the noise.

I suggest to you that you can slow down your voice of tv because whenever it’s high there is more problem of noise I feel downstairs if you slow it down during evening and night time then it’s good for me and the other solution is that you can use your headphones to listen louder music because it’s hard for me for night time.

Hope you will understand my situation and you can reduce your tv voice.

Thank you.

Harsukhman Kaur.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The letter addresses all three bullet points: describing the situation, explaining the impact, and suggesting solutions. However, the development of these ideas is somewhat limited. The explanation of why the noise is a problem is repetitive, focusing primarily on the difficulty of waking up. The suggestions are clear but expressed in a somewhat simplistic manner. To reach a higher band, you should aim to expand on the impact of the noise with more varied vocabulary and provide a more polite, formal tone suitable for a letter to a neighbour, as the current tone is quite informal and slightly repetitive.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The letter is organised into three short paragraphs, which is appropriate for this task. However, the flow between ideas is somewhat mechanical. There is a lack of cohesive devices (such as 'consequently', 'furthermore', or 'therefore') to link sentences together smoothly. For example, the transition between explaining the problem and suggesting a solution is abrupt. The use of referencing is generally clear, but the overall structure feels like a list of points rather than a cohesive, flowing letter. Improving the use of linking words would significantly enhance the readability and logical progression of your writing.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task but lacks variety and precision. You rely on basic phrasing such as 'face a lot of problems', 'slow down your voice', and 'it’s good for me'. These phrases are functional but not natural in a formal or semi-formal context. There is little attempt to use less common lexical items or idiomatic expressions. To improve, try to incorporate more specific vocabulary related to noise disturbances and polite requests, and avoid repeating the same words (like 'noise' and 'evening') within the same paragraph.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The response contains a mix of simple and some attempted complex structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors. Examples include 'I am early going for my shift' (incorrect word order), 'slow down your voice of tv' (unnatural collocation), and 'listen louder music' (incorrect comparative usage). Punctuation is also inconsistent, with several run-on sentences that lack necessary commas or conjunctions. While the meaning is generally clear, these errors occur frequently enough to occasionally distract the reader. Focusing on subject-verb agreement and correct sentence structure will help improve your accuracy.

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

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