Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Barron's Writing · 2026-09-22

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 Mr. Smith,

My name is Kevin and I am your downstairs neighbour. I am writing this letter to complain about hearing irksome noise from your flat.

Actually, when I go for a short nap after coming back from stressful job, I hear an irritating noise, which is not only bother me but my family also. This annoying noise is not allowed me to recharge myself after working constantly for eight hours. Further, my brother is going to write school exams next week, because of this sound, he is not able to concentrate on his studies.

As your neighbour, I suggest you to look into this matter. Yesterday I was figuring out the reason behind of bothering sound, then I got to know that it was from the washing machine when you operrate it. I request you to repair it through qualified technician as soon as possible. I hope you will consider my concern.

Yours faithfully,

Kevin

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response successfully covers all three bullet points required by the task instructions. You clearly described the situation by stating you are the downstairs neighbour bothered by noise, explained why it is a problem by mentioning how it disrupts your rest after a stressful job and hinders your brother's exam preparation, and suggested a practical solution by asking him to repair his washing machine. The tone is appropriate for a formal/semi-formal complaint letter. However, the development of ideas is somewhat brief, which places the response securely at Band 6. To reach a higher band, the explanation of the impact and the suggestion could be slightly more elaborated.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The letter has a clear overall arrangement with appropriate paragraphing. Each paragraph serves a distinct function: introduction, body detailing the problems, and the final paragraph containing the solution and conclusion. Cohesive devices are used reasonably well, such as 'Further' and 'Yesterday', though some transitions feel a bit mechanical. Referencing is generally clear, with 'it' and 'this sound' correctly pointing back to the washing machine noise. Paragraphing is used sufficiently and appropriately, meeting the general expectations of a letter format.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting some less common words like 'irksome', 'stressful', and 'qualified technician'. However, there are some noticeable word choice and collocation errors, such as 'which is not only bother me' instead of 'not only bothers me', and 'operrate' (spelling error) instead of 'operate'. The phrase 'behind of bothering sound' is unnatural and should be 'behind the bothersome sound'. These errors do not impede communication, placing the response at a solid Band 6 level for lexical resource.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The text contains a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as the relative clause in 'an irritating noise, which is not only bother me'. There are several grammatical errors throughout, including tense and verb form issues like 'is not allowed me' instead of 'does not allow me' or 'is not allowing me', and 'because of this sound, he is not able to' (comma splice). Additionally, 'suggest you to look' should be 'suggest that you look' or 'suggest looking'. While these errors occasionally disrupt the flow, the meaning remains clear, aligning with the Band 6 descriptor.

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

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