Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Barron's Writing · 2026-09-15

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

You have a problem in your apartment that needs repairs.

Write a letter to the building manager. In your letter
• describe the problem.
• say what you think should be done about it.
• ask the building manager to visit your apartment to see the problem.

You do NOT need to write any addresses.

Begin your letter as follows:

Dear _________,

Student answer (Band 5.0)

Dear sir,

I am writing this letter to inform the issue we are facing in the apartment since last week which are causing problems of leaking each corner of the house, it is getting worse as there is no one to monitor the situation.The problem has not only faced by our suite but it is already spreaded to 4 suites more.

I was thinking there are lots of things needs to be done to tackle this to begin with skillful plumber with great tools which can be used to reduce the pressure of water, tighten the taps and unnecceery dust should be removed from the leakage points.

It is my humble request to visit the building to observe this major issue, it would be much appreciated if you could contact the maintenance team at your earliest convenience.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response covers all three bullet points from the prompt: it describes the leaking problem in the apartment, suggests solutions such as utilizing a skillful plumber to reduce water pressure, and asks the building manager to visit the apartment. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited and the tone is inconsistent for a formal complaint letter. Furthermore, as noted in the length check, the response falls short of the 150-word minimum, containing only 137 words. This negative impact on the completeness and development of the response pulls the task achievement score down to Band 5.5, despite all bullet points being touched upon.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The letter is structured into three distinct paragraphs, addressing the problem, the solution, and the call to action respectively. However, the flow is hindered by run-on sentences and a lack of precise cohesive devices. For instance, the first sentence runs on significantly: 'I am writing this letter to inform the issue we are facing in the apartment since last week which are causing problems of leaking each corner of the house...' Paragraphing is attempted, but internal cohesion is faulty due to missing prepositions and loose referencing. Overall, the organization is sufficient for a Band 5.0, where an overall structure is visible, but referencing and logical progression are frequently weak.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The lexical range is limited and minimally adequate for the task. The student attempts some less common vocabulary, such as 'earliest convenience' and 'skillful plumber', but these are offset by frequent word-choice errors and inaccurate collocations, such as 'inform the issue' instead of 'inform you of the issue', 'spreaded' instead of 'spread', and 'unnecceery' with a spelling error. While communication is generally maintained despite these errors, the restricted vocabulary and mistakes place this response firmly at Band 5.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but control over grammar is weak. There are frequent errors in subject-verb agreement and relative clauses, such as 'the issue we are facing... which are causing' and 'things needs to be done'. Punctuation is also problematic, notably a run-on sentence and a comma splice separating independent clauses in the first paragraph. Complex structures are often faulty, and these repeated grammatical errors cause occasional difficulty for the reader. This performance aligns with Band 5.0 descriptors.

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

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