Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Barron's Writing · 2026-11-11

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

You let a friend stay at your apartment while you were away on a trip. When you returned home, you discovered that a valuable possession was broken.

Write a letter to your friend. In your letter
• describe the broken possession.
• explain why it is important to you.
• explain what you would like your friend to do.

You do NOT need to write any addresses.

Begin your letter as follows:

Dear _________,

Student answer (Band 5.5)

Dear Ayo,

Hope are you doing? I just returned back to my apartment , it appears you've left already. I noticed the front door lock has broken.

When I got home I tried opening the entrance door, the key refused to unlock it, the door knob and pad-lock had already been jeopardized, I had to break the lock to enter the apartment.

As you well know it is the only access to the apartment

, the keys are top-notch and rare to get a quality lock like that because it is manufactured particularly for the door.

I will like you to phone a carpenter to come get the door fixed soonest, as I don't really know a good one.

I await your quick response .

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The letter addresses the main situation and makes a clear request: you describe the damaged front-door lock, explain that it is the apartment’s only access, and ask your friend to arrange a repair. However, the explanation of why the lock matters is brief and partly unclear, and the request could be more specific about what you expect your friend to do or how soon. The response also contains 125 words, below the required 150, so the task is not fully developed. Add details about the lock’s value or significance, and explain whether your friend should contact the repairer, cover the cost, or discuss it with you. A warmer closing would also suit a personal letter.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The information follows a generally understandable order: you report returning home, describe the problem, explain its importance, and make a request. This gives the reader a basic progression. However, the ideas are compressed into short paragraphs, and the long sentence beginning “When I got home” joins several events with commas, making the sequence harder to follow. The sentence about the lock being the only access and its rarity is also awkwardly separated by a line break. Use clearer paragraphing for the problem, its significance, and your request, and connect events with straightforward transitions such as “As a result” or “Because of this.” These changes would make the organisation more consistently easy to follow.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use enough vocabulary to communicate the central issue, including “front door lock,” “entrance door,” “key,” and “carpenter.” There are also attempts at more specific wording, such as “manufactured particularly for the door.” Some choices, however, are inaccurate or unnatural for this context: “jeopardized” does not mean physically damaged, and “top-notch” is informal and does not clearly explain the lock’s value. “Get the door fixed” is understandable, though “have the lock repaired” is more precise. The meaning remains clear overall, but more accurate collocations and a slightly wider range for describing the lock’s condition and personal significance would improve precision and naturalness.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The response uses both simple sentences and an attempted longer sentence to explain what happened, so there is some variety. The main message is generally understandable, but several grammatical errors reduce accuracy. For example, “Hope are you doing?” needs a subject and correct word order (“I hope you are doing well”), while “I just returned back” uses an unnecessary second verb element. The sentence beginning “When I got home” is a comma splice, and “I will like” should be “I would like.” There are also punctuation and spacing problems around commas and full stops. Aim for complete sentences, check verb forms and word order, and divide the long sentence into shorter units.

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

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