Band 4.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.0 · Barron's Writing · 2026-10-08

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 4.0)

Dear Sir

I am writting this letter to complain you about the noise frequently heard from your apartment.It effects our daily life .I live in apartment 801 which is beneath your apartment.I am living here since last year.I never complain any of my neighbours about any thing .

I know there is some renovation work in your apartment.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 3.0

You begin to address the situation by identifying the noise, your apartment below the neighbour’s, and possible renovation work. However, the letter is incomplete: it does not explain how the noise affects you in any detail, and it gives no suggested solution, so two required points are missing or barely addressed. The statement that you have never complained to neighbours adds little without explaining your purpose or making a clear request. The response also falls well short of the required minimum length, leaving too little space to develop the task. To improve, explain when the noise occurs and its effect on your sleep or work, then politely request specific quiet hours or advance notice of noisy work.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.0

The ideas are presented in a basic sequence: you introduce the complaint, identify your apartment, and mention renovation work. This gives the reader some context, but the response stops before developing a complete letter, so there is no clear progression through the problem, its impact, and a solution. The sentences are also crowded together, with missing spaces after full stops, which makes the message harder to follow. Use separate paragraphs for the situation, its effect on you, and your request. Linking phrases such as “As a result” and “Could we agree that…” would help show how each point connects and make the letter feel more complete.

Lexical Resource: Band 4.5

You use a small set of relevant words, including “noise,” “neighbours,” and “renovation work,” which makes the basic topic understandable. However, the vocabulary is limited and some expressions are inaccurate or unnatural, such as “complain you about” and “It effects our daily life.” The spelling “writting” also reduces accuracy. Because the letter contains very little development, there is limited evidence of range or flexibility in choosing language for a polite neighbour-to-neighbour request. Build a more precise set of phrases for describing disturbance and its impact, such as “loud drilling,” “interrupts my sleep,” or “would you mind keeping the noise down after…”.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.5

The response mainly uses short, simple statements, for example, “I live in apartment 801” and “I know there is some renovation work in your apartment.” These communicate basic information, but there is little variety in sentence structure or evidence of more developed grammatical control. There are errors in sentence construction and punctuation: “I am writting this letter to complain you about…” lacks the appropriate grammatical pattern, and “I am living here since last year” uses an unsuitable tense for a situation continuing to the present. Full stops also need spaces after them. Practise structures such as “I have lived here since last year” and “I am writing to ask whether…”, then combine ideas with accurate clauses.

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

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