Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Barron's Writing · 2026-09-18

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 john

I hope this letter finds you well. I'm writing to you to inform you that i find it so hard to fall asleep with all the noise coming from your room.I'm well aware of your circumstances and i completely understand but as you know, i i need to go to bed really early so i can wake up really early to go to work but the noises you're making are keeping me from doing that, and in order to prevent any forward disturbing. I think we should meet one day to discuss a solution that will work for both of us.I would be really pleased to hear your answer on my proposal.

your neighbour of the flour below

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The student covers all bullet points required by the task: describing the situation (noise coming from the room making it hard to fall asleep), explaining why it is a problem (needing to wake up early for work), and suggesting a solution (meeting to discuss a solution). However, the word count is 120 words, which fails to meet the minimum requirement of 150 words. Because of this under-length penalty, the task cannot be fully developed, leading to a lower score for this criterion despite touching upon all necessary points.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The letter lacks appropriate paragraphing, written essentially as a single block of text rather than distinct paragraphs for the greeting, body points, and sign-off. While the logical flow is somewhat apparent, the mechanical grouping of ideas and lack of clear paragraph breaks hinder the overall structure. Cohesive devices are minimal, relying mostly on basic conjunctions and run-on phrasing such as 'and i completely understand but as you know...'. Referencing is generally clear, but the lack of formatting and paragraphing keeps this criterion at a lower band.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is adequate for a basic personal message but lacks variety and sophistication. Phrases like 'find it so hard to fall asleep', 'well aware of your circumstances', and 'discuss a solution' are functional yet common. There are repetitive expressions, such as using 'really early' twice in close proximity. Furthermore, there are lexical and capitalisation errors such as 'forward disturbing' instead of 'further disturbance' and 'flour' instead of 'floor'. While meaning remains understandable, the range is limited.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The student employs a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as 'I'm writing to you to inform you that i find it so hard...' and 'in order to prevent any forward disturbing'. However, there are significant punctuation and capitalisation errors throughout the text, notably lower-case 'i' used as a personal pronoun multiple times ('i find', 'i completely', 'i need'). There is also a major run-on sentence issue connecting multiple independent clauses with conjunctions without proper breaks. These errors occasionally disrupt the reading flow.

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

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