Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Barron's Writing · 2026-09-20

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 5.5)

dear neighbor

Iam addressing to you to talk to you about a problem that bothers me from a while.

since am working, I woke up earlier everyday, i came back at home at the evening for hope of rest and find calm, but unfortunately every single day it was the same thing, the noise that comes out of you apartment which affects me a lot in my everyday life and even at work, i always feel tired and very mad, without forgetting the headache. so please find a solution to your noise especially when i came back at home, I know it is very hard to keep your children calm, but try to speak with them,they steel yong they can not understand, also please try to not wer heels at the evening everyday.

thank you for your attention, hope that i didn't take a lot of your time, with all my respects.

your downstairs neighbour.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response successfully covers all the bullet points outlined in the prompt. You described the situation by mentioning the noise coming from the upstairs apartment, explained why it is a problem by discussing how it affects your daily life, work, and causes headaches, and suggested a solution by asking them to speak with their children and avoid wearing heels in the evening. The tone is appropriate for a semi-formal letter to a neighbour, and the purpose is clear throughout. Although some ideas could be expanded slightly further for a higher band, all requirements of the task have been fully addressed.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The letter lacks proper paragraphing, as it is written as one continuous block of text rather than distinct paragraphs for each part of the letter (e.g., describing the issue, explaining the impact, and suggesting solutions). Cohesive devices are minimal, relying mostly on basic connectors like 'and', 'so', and 'also'. The referencing is sometimes unclear, such as 'that noise that comes out of you apartment'. While the overall message is understandable, the lack of structured paragraphing and limited use of cohesive devices restrict the score for this criterion.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, allowing you to convey your message, but it remains fairly basic and repetitive. Phrases such as 'bothers me from a while', 'came back at home', and 'very mad' demonstrate limited lexical flexibility and some unnatural collocations. There are also spelling errors like 'steel' instead of 'still' and 'yong' instead of 'young'. While basic communication is achieved, the lack of less common vocabulary and noticeable word-choice errors prevent the score from reaching a higher band.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The letter contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but grammatical accuracy is weak. There are several noticeable errors throughout the text, such as 'Iam addressing to you' (incorrect verb form and preposition), 'I woke up earlier everyday' (tense inconsistency, should be wake), and 'try to not wer heels' (misspelling and incorrect word order). Punctuation is also problematic, particularly the lack of capitalisation at the beginning of sentences and for proper greetings. These frequent errors cause some difficulty for the reader and reflect a limited control of grammar.

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

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