Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Barron's Writing · 2026-11-04

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)

I hope you enjoyed your stay at the apartment with your family, and had fun time exploring the city.

I am writing to tell you that, when i arrived at my place, I found my wooden framed twenty inch by ten inch picture of me and my school friends. It was in rough condition, as someone had drawn a cat over it using permanent marker.

It was a special photo for me, as one of my friends in that potrait has recently passed away, and I was planning to gift this picture to my other friends, as it was the only photograph we had together.

So, if you could please pay half the cost for the repair and reprinting of the picture, it would be great. You can take your time to reimburse for the damage but if you could do that by next mon

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

You address all three required points: you identify the damaged photograph, explain its emotional importance, and ask your friend to contribute to repair and reprinting costs. The detail that a friend in the picture has recently died makes the reason for its value clear. However, the request is only partly developed: “pay half the cost” does not explain how the amount will be agreed or whether you expect your friend to arrange the repair. The final sentence is also cut off at “next mon,” leaving the requested deadline incomplete. The response is five words below the required minimum, so it needs a little more development. Add a complete closing and clarify the practical arrangement.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 7.0

The information follows a clear, sensible order: you open with a friendly reference to the stay, describe what happened, explain the photograph’s significance, and then make a request. Paragraphing helps distinguish these stages, and links such as “as” and “So” make the relationships between ideas understandable. To make the progression more polished, include a brief transition from the discovery to your request, and finish with a complete closing rather than ending mid-sentence. The phrase “as” is repeated in the explanation of the photograph’s importance; varying the connection or dividing that long explanation into two sentences would make cohesion less noticeable and improve the flow.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.5

Your vocabulary is adequate for the situation and includes useful specific descriptions, such as “wooden framed,” “permanent marker,” and “reprinting.” The emotional explanation is also conveyed clearly through “special photo” and the reference to your friend’s death. Some choices are imprecise or awkward, however: “rough condition” is vague for a picture marked with a pen, and “reimburse for the damage” is not the most natural way to describe contributing to repair costs. There is also a spelling error in “potrait.” More precise collocations would help you express the damage and financial request naturally, while retaining the personal tone appropriate for a letter to a friend.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex forms, including the conditional request “if you could please pay…” and a relative clause describing the friend in the photograph. Most meaning remains clear, but some grammatical and punctuation errors persist. For example, “had fun time” needs an article (“had a fun time”), and the pronoun “i” should be capitalised. The sentence beginning “It was a special photo for me” becomes difficult to follow because several ideas are joined with repeated “as” clauses; splitting it would improve control. The final sentence is incomplete, so the deadline clause needs to be finished and punctuated. Aim for accurate articles and complete sentence boundaries while continuing to use varied structures.

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

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