Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Barron's Writing · 2026-08-27

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 Mr. Smith,

I am writing this letter to make complain about noise from your apartment during day time. I do work from home for a customer service company. There are approximately 50 calls that I have to answers them. Your children play room is right up to my office room. While they are playing, they make so much noise which makes very work harder. It is unable to listen the customer's voice.

My manager give a last warning. Because of your children noise my work is effecting and customers are making complain regarding it continously I got the bad review in last 7 days which is not good for my job. Higher authorities gives me last chance to secure my position.

Please change the place of kids play area so that I will take calls peacefully. Moreover, try to change the play time also if possible from morning to evening. It would be great help if you understand my situtation otherwise, I have no option instead of make complain against you to building owner.

I hope you will cope with this situtation and give me your response soon as soon possible.

Your Sincerely,

Mehak,

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The letter addresses all three bullet points: describing the noise, explaining the impact on your work, and suggesting a solution. The tone is generally appropriate for a formal letter to a neighbour, although the threat at the end is quite blunt. The ideas are relevant, but the development is somewhat limited by grammatical errors that occasionally obscure the intended meaning. For example, the explanation of the impact on your job is clear, but the phrasing is repetitive. To reach a higher band, ensure that the purpose of the letter is stated more smoothly and that the proposed solutions are presented with more sophisticated language.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The letter is logically organised into clear paragraphs, each focusing on a specific aspect of the task. You use some basic cohesive devices such as 'Moreover' and 'Because of', which help the flow of ideas. However, the progression between sentences is sometimes mechanical, and there are instances where the connection between ideas is slightly disjointed, such as the transition between the description of the noise and the impact on your job. The use of referencing is generally clear, but the overall structure would benefit from a wider range of linking words to improve the flow between paragraphs.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using words like 'approximately', 'continuously', and 'position'. However, there are several errors in word choice and collocation that hinder the precision of your writing, such as 'make complain' instead of 'make a complaint', 'work harder' instead of 'work more difficult', and 'great help' instead of 'great assistance'. While these errors do not prevent the reader from understanding your message, they indicate a limited control over more complex lexical items. Expanding your vocabulary to include more formal collocations would improve your score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The letter contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors throughout. Common issues include subject-verb agreement ('My manager give', 'authorities gives'), incorrect verb forms ('I have to answers them', 'I will take calls'), and missing articles or prepositions ('make complain', 'listen the customer's voice'). These errors are noticeable and occur in almost every sentence, which impacts the clarity of your writing. To improve, focus on mastering basic sentence construction, specifically verb tenses and the correct use of articles, before attempting more complex structures.

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

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