Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Barron's Writing · 2026-10-25

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 sophia,

I hope this letter finds you well. I have just returned from my trip and was concerned to find that some of my belongings, including my watch have been damaged.

To begin with, I can understand that things are meant to be broken. I allowed you to stay at my place and use my belongings. However, this watch is an antique piece of my grandmother. It is very dear to me. Moreover, the zip of my designer bag is also broken. This bag is expensive and valuable to me as my husband presented this on my twnenty-second birthday. I was extremely dissappointed discovering that my valuable poosessions were broken.

It would be a great favour if you could pay me for repairing these items. I would appreciate a cash payement.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Thank you for your time and cosideration.

Yours sincerely,

Samra Javed

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

The letter addresses all three required points: it identifies the damaged watch and bag, explains their personal significance, and asks your friend to pay for repairs. The details about the watch belonging to your grandmother and the bag being a birthday present make the explanation relevant and personal. The request for “a cash payment” is clear, but it would be more complete to specify whether you expect your friend to cover the full repair cost and how you will arrange or confirm the amount. The opening also says “some of my belongings” without initially making clear that two items were damaged. Overall, the purpose is clear, though some details and the requested action could be developed more fully and precisely.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The information follows a sensible order: you introduce the damage, explain why the items matter, make a request, and close the letter. Paragraphing helps separate the explanation from the request, and phrases such as “To begin with” and “Moreover” guide the reader through the details. However, “To begin with” suggests a sequence that is not continued, and the transition from the watch to the bag could be smoother. The sentence beginning “I was extremely disappointed” repeats the point that the possessions were broken rather than advancing the explanation. A clearer paragraph for each purpose, with less repetition and more natural links, would make the progression more fluent.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range of vocabulary for a personal letter, including “antique,” “designer bag,” “valuable,” and “repairing,” which helps convey the items’ importance and your request. Some less common choices are not fully natural or precise: “things are meant to be broken” does not express the intended idea clearly, and “pay me for repairing these items” is less idiomatic than asking someone to cover the repair costs. There are also spelling errors in “twnenty-second,” “dissappointed,” “poosessions,” “payement,” and “cosideration.” These do not prevent understanding, but careful proofreading and more accurate collocations would improve control and make the tone more polished.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.5

The letter includes a mix of simple and more complex sentence forms, such as “I allowed you to stay at my place and use my belongings” and the clause explaining that the bag was a birthday present. Most sentences communicate their meaning clearly, and the request is expressed politely. Some grammatical and punctuation issues remain: in “including my watch have been damaged,” the singular “watch” is awkwardly joined to the plural “belongings” and needs clearer punctuation or restructuring. “I was extremely disappointed discovering” would be more natural as “disappointed to discover,” and “this on my twenty-second birthday” needs a clearer reference to the bag. Greater accuracy in these patterns would strengthen an otherwise understandable letter.

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

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