Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Barron's Writing · 2026-07-31

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 friend,

I'm writing to know that when I return home I found that my important possession was broken. It was Flowerpot. You did not even told me about that. It's your duty take care of my apartment when I was not there but you did not take this seriously. It's valuable to me because this gave to me my very close uncle who is no more. That's the last thing I have which belongs to him. I want you to be feel sorry about this. That's not good you just even tell me about this. I have the broken pieces of this you should have to take this and fix this as soon as possible. Thats your punishment. It is very unforgettable for me. That is very bad thing you did to me. I'm very upset due to this behavior. It is very important to me to fix this.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response addresses all three bullet points: describing the broken item (a flowerpot), explaining its sentimental value (a gift from a deceased uncle), and stating a desired action (fixing it). However, the tone is overly aggressive and accusatory, which is inappropriate for a letter to a friend. The task requires a balanced approach to a sensitive situation, but the student uses demanding language like 'That's your punishment,' which fails to maintain a polite or appropriate tone for the requested task type. While the content is relevant, the lack of social appropriateness limits the development of the ideas.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The letter lacks paragraphing, which makes it difficult to follow the progression of ideas. The sentences are short and choppy, and the use of cohesive devices is very limited. Phrases like 'That's not good' and 'That is very bad thing' are used repetitively, and there is a lack of logical transitions between the description of the item, the explanation of its value, and the request for action. The overall structure is mechanical, and the flow of information feels disjointed, which hinders the reader's ability to follow the narrative smoothly.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is quite basic and repetitive. The student relies on simple adjectives like 'important,' 'broken,' and 'bad.' There are several instances of awkward phrasing, such as 'It is very unforgettable for me' (which is logically incorrect) and 'That's your punishment.' The range of vocabulary is insufficient to express the nuance required for a letter of this nature. To improve, the student should focus on using more precise adjectives and collocations to convey feelings and describe objects more effectively.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

There are frequent grammatical errors throughout the text, including issues with verb tenses ('when I return home I found'), subject-verb agreement ('You did not even told me'), and article usage ('It was Flowerpot'). The sentence structures are predominantly simple, and there is a lack of complex sentence forms. Errors such as 'this gave to me my very close uncle' indicate significant difficulty with sentence construction and word order. These errors are frequent and occasionally impede the clarity of the message.

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.