Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Barron's Writing · 2026-09-25

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 Raj,

I am writing you to about my disappointment by seeing the valuable item broken while you were living in my apartment. Unfortunately, the antique mirror in my living room has broken in two pieces and the damage cannot be repaired.

As this mirror was gifted by my family when I moved to this house. Most importantly, it was hand crafted using colorful stones which are very rare to find these days. What is more, whenever I go outside, I usually see myself in this mirror.

I would like you to find similar kind of mirror in your city as I heard one of your stores make these kind of artifacts. I could understand that your intentions were not to harm my feelings. I am not expecting any payment for this and only concern to get the same piece. Thank you for understanding.

I am looking forward to hearing from you.

Best Regards,

H

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.0

The candidate successfully covers all three bullet points required by the prompt. First, the broken possession is described as an antique mirror that broke into two pieces. Second, the importance is explained through its sentimental value as a family gift and its unique handcrafted nature using colorful stones. Third, the desired action is clearly stated, asking the friend to find a similar mirror in their city. The tone is appropriate for a letter to a friend, balancing the awkward situation with understanding. Although the points are developed adequately to meet the task requirements, they could be slightly more extended to reach the highest bands. Overall, all parts of the task are well addressed.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The letter is logically organised with a clear beginning, middle, and end, following standard informal letter conventions. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate different points, such as the description and importance in the second paragraph, and the requested action in the third. Cohesive devices are used adequately, including phrases like 'As this mirror was gifted' and 'What is more'. However, some referencing and cohesive links are slightly mechanical or awkward, such as 'I am writing you to about my disappointment by seeing', which affects the smoothness of progression. Nonetheless, overall cohesion is clear and easy to follow throughout the response.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully attempting some less common lexical items such as 'disappointment', 'antique', 'hand crafted', and 'artifacts'. However, there are noticeable word choice and collocation errors throughout the text. For example, 'writing you to about my disappointment by seeing' contains preposition and collocation slips, 'broken in two pieces' is acceptable but 'broken into' is more precise, and 'similar kind of mirror' lacks an article. Despite these occasional inaccuracies, the vocabulary is sufficient to convey the message clearly and does not impede communication.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

The response features a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, including relative clauses ('which are very rare to find these days') and conditional or temporal clauses ('whenever I go outside'). There are several grammatical errors and awkward phrasing choices, such as 'I am writing you to about my disappointment', 'has broken in two pieces' (passive voice would be more natural here as 'was broken'), and 'find similar kind of mirror'. Punctuation is generally fine, and although errors persist, they rarely impede communication, allowing the reader to easily understand the intended meaning.

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

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