Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Barron's Writing · 2026-08-14

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 6.5)

Dear Sarah,

I hope you are doing well.Thank you for your help to look after my apartment while I was on a trip.

I hope you enjoy your stay at my place; however, when I came back I saw my laptop was broken. The Laptop display has a big crack on it. Also, it was not turning on. Moreover, it was asking weird noise whenever I try to start.

As you already know I am working in a multi national company and I have to return the laptop after my contact.Now, I have to exchange it and they would like to know what happened to the laptop.

I would really appreciate if you share some details with me ,while I was away. Such as it was broken suddenly while you trying to use it or it fall from somewhere by mistake. It will help me to claim an insurance for my laptop through company.

I appreciate your time and help.

Yours Sincerely,

Sam

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

You have addressed all three bullet points in the prompt: describing the broken item, explaining its importance, and requesting action from your friend. The tone is generally appropriate for a letter to a friend, although it leans slightly formal in parts. The ideas are relevant and clearly presented. To improve, you could expand slightly on the 'importance' aspect; while you mention it is a work laptop, adding a sentence about the stress this causes or the urgency of the situation would help develop your ideas further and reach a higher band level.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The letter is logically organized with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a closing. Each paragraph focuses on a specific aspect of the task. You use some cohesive devices, such as 'however', 'also', and 'moreover', to link your ideas. However, some transitions feel a bit mechanical or repetitive. To improve, try to vary your linking words and ensure that the flow between sentences is smoother. For example, the transition between the description of the damage and the explanation of why it is important could be more fluid.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You have a sufficient range of vocabulary to convey your message clearly. You use some specific terms like 'multi-national company' and 'claim an insurance'. However, there are some minor inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'asking weird noise' (should be 'making a weird noise') and 'it fall from somewhere' (should be 'it fell'). These errors do not impede communication, but they do limit the precision of your writing. Expanding your vocabulary to include more natural collocations would enhance your score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

You demonstrate a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are several grammatical errors, such as 'help to look after' (should be 'help looking after'), 'my contact' (should be 'my contract'), and 'if you share' (should be 'if you could share'). Additionally, there are some punctuation issues, such as missing spaces after periods. While these errors are noticeable, they do not prevent the reader from understanding your meaning. To reach a higher band, focus on subject-verb agreement and consistent verb tense usage, especially when describing past events.

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

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