Band 7.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 7.0 · Barron's Writing · 2026-09-11

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 7.0)

Dear Sam,

I hope you enjoyed a comfortable stay during last week in my apartment. I'm sorry that I wasn't able to stay with you due to my work trip. When I returned, I saw my favourite flower vase was broken.

It was a blue-coloured, glass polished, shiny vase which was kept on the dining table. Outer surface of the vase had a drawing of my family. Furthermore, there were pink crochet flowers inside it, they were also found to be damaged.

This vase holds a significant value to my heart because it was gifted by my mother on my last birthday. She had personally invested her time and painted it for me. Additionally, the flowers were knitted by my grandmother. Hence, this was very precious for me.

I would like you to inform me next time if you see anything broken and not to play sports inside my house when you visit.

Yours lovely,

Krupa

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.5

You have addressed all three bullet points of the task effectively. You described the broken vase, explained its sentimental value, and clearly stated what you would like your friend to do. The tone is appropriate for a letter to a friend, maintaining a balance between being firm about the damage and remaining polite. The ideas are well-developed, particularly the explanation of why the item is important, which adds a personal touch to the letter. All parts of the prompt are covered clearly, and the purpose of the letter is immediately evident to the reader.

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 makes the letter easy to follow. You have used some cohesive devices such as 'Furthermore', 'Additionally', and 'Hence' to link your sentences. While the flow is generally good, some transitions could be more varied to improve the naturalness of the text. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the introduction, the description, the explanation of value, and the final request, which helps the reader navigate the content efficiently.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.5

You have a sufficient range of vocabulary to convey your message clearly. Phrases like 'significant value to my heart' and 'personally invested her time' are expressive and appropriate. There are some minor collocation issues, such as 'glass polished' (which is slightly unnatural) and 'Yours lovely' (which is not a standard closing; 'Yours lovingly' or 'Best wishes' would be better). However, these errors do not impede communication. You have successfully used descriptive language to paint a picture of the broken item, which demonstrates a good command of vocabulary for this task.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.5

You demonstrate a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. Most of your sentences are clear and grammatically sound. There are a few minor errors, such as 'during last week' (should be 'last week' or 'during the last week') and the comma splice in the second paragraph ('...inside it, they were also found...'). Despite these occasional slips, your control of grammar is generally good, and the meaning is never obscured. You use a variety of structures, including passive voice and relative clauses, which shows a reasonable level of grammatical flexibility.

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

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