Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Barron's Writing · 2026-08-27

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 Emeka,

Good morning, how have you been?. I hope you got home safely. Without wasting mush energy, I hope this letter meets you well.

I retuned to my apartment yesterday evening, and to my greatest surprise to found that my new LED TV has been broken and this wasn't so before your coming. This set is very much important to me as it took me two years of savings to be able to afford it and returning to meet it in this condition brakes my heart.

As a friend, I'm not asking for a total replacement of the said TV set but I will be pleased if you could at least send it for a repair or cover the cost of the for the repair since coming back will be a much burden on you given your schedule.

I look forward to your response and open to your suggestions and possible resolution approach to the issue I just raised.

Thanks and be blessed my friend.

Yours Sincerely.

Chuka

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.5

The response successfully addresses all three bullet points of the prompt. You clearly describe the broken item (the LED TV), explain its significance (two years of savings), and propose a reasonable resolution (repair or cost coverage). The tone is appropriate for a letter to a friend, maintaining a balance between being firm about the issue and remaining polite. The ideas are well-developed and the purpose of the letter is clear from the outset. You have fully satisfied the requirements of the task.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The letter is logically organized with a clear progression of ideas. Each paragraph focuses on a specific aspect of the prompt, which helps the reader follow your narrative easily. You use basic cohesive devices such as 'As a friend' and 'I look forward to', which serve their purpose well. However, the flow could be improved by using a wider variety of linking words to connect sentences more fluidly. The paragraphing is appropriate for a formal-informal letter, and the overall structure is coherent.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task. Phrases like 'greatest surprise', 'total replacement', and 'possible resolution approach' are effective. However, there are some minor errors in word choice and spelling, such as 'mush' instead of 'much', 'retuned' instead of 'returned', and 'brakes' instead of 'breaks'. While these do not impede communication, they prevent the response from reaching a higher band. Focusing on accurate spelling and more precise collocations will help improve your score in this area.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is always clear, there are several grammatical slips, such as 'to found that' (should be 'to find that') and 'much burden' (should be 'a big burden'). Additionally, there are some punctuation issues, such as the double punctuation in 'been?.'. Despite these errors, you demonstrate a good grasp of sentence construction. To improve, try to proofread your work specifically for verb tense consistency and article usage, as these are the areas where most of your errors occur.

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

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