Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Barron's Writing · 2026-10-05

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 5.5)

Dear Fayaz,

I trusted you, i gave you the access to my apartment. I just came back to the home. after a trip and subsequently, i found out that my computer table is completely broken. As you know i work remotely for the USA company and with this broken table i can't sit and work properly. as my work will start by tomorrow 10 am. at least, you should had told me if this had happened by you un-intentionally.

i am unable to find any craftsman right now. could you please come to my place however, we can repair it together. its a very hectic job and also working on my bed with laptop will make my back pain wakeup again so i suggest if you have any table at your new apartment. get it to me with it until i get it repaired. subsequently i will drop back your table at your address.

Thank you

Zahid

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses all three parts of the prompt, as you describe the broken computer table, explain that it is essential for your remote work, and ask your friend to either come over to help repair it or lend you a replacement table from their new apartment. However, some aspects of the task are only partially developed. For instance, the explanation of why the item is important focuses heavily on the immediate practical inconvenience of starting work the next day at 10 am, but lacks a deeper exploration of its personal or long-term significance. Furthermore, the tone shifts abruptly and feels overly accusatory at the beginning with phrases like 'I trusted you, i gave you the access to my apartment,' which affects the appropriate social register required for a personal letter to a friend. To reach a higher level, you should ensure all bullet points are extended with fuller explanations and maintain a more balanced, polite yet firm tone throughout the communication.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The letter maintains a coherent overall arrangement and the general message is easy to follow, providing a clear narrative from returning home to discovering the damage and proposing solutions. However, the cohesion feels somewhat mechanical and abrupt in places due to awkward transitions and punctuation issues. For example, using 'subsequently, i found out' and repeating 'subsequently i will drop back' creates a slightly unnatural logical flow. Additionally, paragraphing is not managed effectively; the text is split into two dense blocks that combine distinct thoughts, such as mixing the description of the damage with the repair request and the alternative borrowing suggestion. To improve cohesion, you should use a wider variety of natural cohesive devices to link your ideas smoothly and divide your writing into clear paragraphs dedicated to specific points, such as a separate paragraph for the problem and another for your proposed solutions.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is minimally adequate for the task, successfully conveying the basic situation and your specific needs. You make adequate attempts at less common vocabulary items, such as 'remotely', 'craftsman', and 'hectic', but there are noticeable errors in word choice, collocation, and phrasing that occasionally disrupt the reading flow, such as 'my back pain wakeup again' instead of flare up, or 'get it to me with it'. Furthermore, there are basic mechanical errors with capitalization, such as lowercase 'i' used repeatedly throughout the text, and awkward word formations like 'un-intentionally'. To achieve a higher score, you need to expand your range of vocabulary by utilizing more precise lexical chunks, accurate collocations related to household damage and apologies, and ensure strict accuracy with word forms and capitalization.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The writing relies on a very limited range of structures, consisting mostly of simple sentences alongside a few attempts at complex forms that unfortunately contain grammatical errors. You demonstrate frequent issues with verb forms and modal structures, such as 'you should had told me', which should be 'you should have told me'. There are also run-on sentences and punctuation slips, such as comma splices connecting independent clauses ('As you know i work remotely for the USA company and with this broken table i can't sit and work properly. as my work will start...'). These frequent errors in grammar and sentence boundaries can cause some difficulty for the reader. To improve your grammatical score, you should focus on mastering auxiliary verb patterns after modals, eliminating comma splices by using correct punctuation or conjunctions, and practicing a greater variety of error-free complex sentence structures.

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

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