Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Barron's Writing · 2026-10-27

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 Alex,

How are you? Hope you are doing well! As you know I was on vacation last week in Japan, and I you were staying at my place for sometime because your house key was lost. In Japan, the highlight is breath taking views and mountains.

When I came back from the trip I saw the vase was broken into pieces. It was precious for me as it was given to me by mother as my birtgday gift and it was only gift from her remaining with me.

I would appreciate if you could help my sister to get the train to Mumbai in return of the tragedy which happened to me.

Hoping to hear from you soon.

Regards,

Rini.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.5

You identify the broken possession as a vase and explain its personal importance: it was a birthday gift from your mother and the only gift from her that remains. However, the request to your friend is unclear and does not directly address the damage: asking them to help your sister get a train to Mumbai “in return of the tragedy” is difficult to understand. The trip to Japan is also not needed to fulfil the task, and the letter does not explain what action you want regarding the vase. The response is also below the required 150 words. To address the task more fully, clearly ask your friend to explain what happened, help repair or replace the vase, or discuss another specific solution.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The letter has a recognisable structure, with a greeting, an opening, the description of the vase, a request, and a closing. The sequence from returning home to discovering the damage is easy to follow. However, the paragraph about Japan interrupts the main purpose, and the final request about your sister’s train journey does not connect clearly to the broken vase. This weakens the overall progression and makes the relationship between ideas difficult to follow. Use separate, focused paragraphs for the discovery, the vase’s importance, and your request, and connect them with clear transitions such as “Because of this” or “Could you please”.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use some relevant vocabulary, including “precious,” “broken into pieces,” and “birthday gift,” which helps communicate the situation and its emotional significance. There are also attempts at more descriptive language, such as “breath taking views,” although this detail is not central to the letter. Some word choices and phrases are inaccurate or unclear: “in return of the tragedy” does not express a natural request, and “the only gift from her remaining with me” is awkwardly formed. Spelling errors such as “birtgday” also reduce accuracy. Choose direct, natural expressions for the requested action, for example, “help me arrange a repair” or “contribute towards replacing it.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The response uses mostly simple sentence patterns, with some attempts to combine ideas, as in “It was precious for me as it was given to me by mother.” Meaning is generally recoverable, but several grammatical errors affect clarity. In “I you were staying at my place,” the sentence is missing a verb or connector, and “I would appreciate if” needs “it” after “appreciate.” The phrase “given to me by mother” also needs a possessive determiner, while “it was only gift” needs an article. Aim to check sentence completeness and articles, and practise combining clauses accurately—for example, “I let you stay at my apartment because you had lost your house key.”

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

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