Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · 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 6.5)

Dear Ramam,

I hope you are doing great. I am writing this letter to express my disappointment with you, because when I returned to my apartment I saw my ceramic vase was broken.

While unpacking, I discovered that the vintage antique vase which was placed on a living room side table was shattered into pieces. Although, you know that antique piece hold lots of my emotions & sentiments for me.

As, it was very important for me because it was hand drawn by my grandmother me. It holds lots of memories with me which were irreplacable.

I understand that accidents happen and you might have felt too bad to mention it right away. However, since it is broken into large pieces cannot be fixed when we glued it. So, I would really appreciate it if you could help me fix it. I found a professional ceramic restoration service

nearby that specializes in repairing items.

would you be open to covering the cost of the

repair?

Let me know your thoughts when you have a

moment.

Warm Regards,

Surpreet

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The response effectively covers all three bullet points required by the task instructions. You successfully describe the broken item as a vintage ceramic vase left on a living room side table, explain its emotional and sentimental value because it was hand-drawn by your grandmother, and clearly state what you would like your friend to do by asking them to cover the cost of professional repair. The tone is appropriate for a semi-formal letter to a friend, blending personal warmth with a slightly disappointed yet polite request. All parts of the prompt are fully addressed with relevant details, resulting in a solid performance for Task Achievement.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The letter is logically organised with a clear opening, body paragraphs dealing with the specific prompts, and a polite closing. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate ideas such as the description, the emotional importance, and the proposed solution. Cohesive devices are generally handled well, using transitions like 'Although' and 'However', though some referencing could be smoother, such as 'since it is broken into large pieces cannot be fixed'. Overall, the progression of ideas is clear and easy to follow throughout the response.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate to good range of vocabulary for this task, successfully incorporating less common lexical items such as 'disappointment', 'vintage antique', 'sentiments', 'irreplaceable', and 'professional restoration service'. While there are a few minor lexical inaccuracies or awkward phrasing choices—such as 'hand drawn by my grandmother me' and 'felt too bad'—these do not impede communication. The tone remains polite and appropriately varied in vocabulary choice.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The response exhibits a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as 'I am writing this letter to express my disappointment with you, because when I returned to my apartment I saw my ceramic vase was broken.' There are some grammatical errors and awkward constructions, notably 'antique piece hold lots of my emotions' (subject-verb agreement), 'hand drawn by my grandmother me' (extra pronoun), and 'since it is broken into large pieces cannot be fixed' (fragmented clause structure). However, these errors do not prevent your message from being understood.

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

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