Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Barron's Writing · 2026-09-02

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 5.0)

Dear Neighbour,

Hope this latter finds you well, I am writting this later with concern of untolrated noise. As i am student and doing parttime job, thus i am really tired due to schedule on weekdays. In between the noise from your apartment ,, like the loud music playing, screaming sound make my day at home more challenging. I cannot sleep properly while your Awake and make noise inn next door. Due to lack of sleep i am suffering from body stiffness, lack of sleep, Headache. As a friend I want to suggest you that please low down the volume of music in weekday that would be really assist me for my health. Hope you take this latter seriously. thank you

your next door apartment Neighbour

Apartment number 14

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The letter addresses all three bullet points: describing the noise, explaining the impact, and suggesting a solution. However, the response is significantly under the 150-word minimum requirement, which limits the development of ideas. The tone is generally appropriate for a letter to a neighbour, though it lacks the necessary length to fully expand on the situation or provide a more polite, persuasive structure. Because the response is 21 words short of the requirement, it fails to meet the task length criteria, which negatively impacts the overall score for task achievement.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The letter is short and lacks clear paragraphing, which makes the structure feel somewhat disjointed. While there is a basic logical progression from the problem to the impact and finally the suggestion, the use of cohesive devices is very limited. Phrases like 'As i am student' and 'Due to lack of sleep' are used to connect ideas, but the overall flow is hindered by the lack of sentence variety and the brevity of the text. The letter would benefit from clearer transitions between the description of the noise and the proposed solution.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary is basic and repetitive. There are several spelling errors, such as 'latter' instead of 'letter', 'writting', and 'untolrated'. The word choice is functional but lacks the range required for a higher band. For example, 'low down the volume' is a common collocation error; 'turn down' or 'reduce' would be more natural. The student relies on simple, everyday language, and the frequent spelling mistakes occasionally distract the reader, though they do not fully impede communication.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The response contains frequent grammatical errors, including missing articles ('As i am student'), incorrect verb forms ('your Awake'), and punctuation issues (the double comma '..'). Sentence structures are mostly simple, with limited attempts at complex sentences. There are also issues with subject-verb agreement and word order. While the meaning is generally understandable, the high frequency of errors in basic grammar and punctuation prevents the text from reaching a higher band. More attention to proofreading for basic errors is essential.

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

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