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 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 5.5)

Dear, Sir/Madam

I am writing this letter to express my problems with the water pump of the apartment .

Since, we move in the last month the water pump workers perfectly , but after this month it started causing trouble , Firstly, the water pressure suddenly drop down to zero PSI , which effected all building water supply and water was not able or almost for 30 minuites . After , rebooting the pumps it started wokring again , but yesterday it was completed stopped and whole building people are dealing with water issues .

We are requesting for imdiate hire of a licensed electrian for pump repair , so the water will be avialable as soon as possible , because all the peoples are working individual and water needed for everyday life .

Also , requesting a preventive maintaince for all electrical and mechincal equipment in the building , to avoid problems before happing .

Yours faithfully,

Mantej singh

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

The response addresses the main requirements of the letter by describing the water pump issue, suggesting a solution, and asking the building manager to visit, but the ideas remain somewhat limited and under-developed. For example, while you mention that the water pressure dropped down to zero PSI, the details regarding the apartment visit are handled too briefly through a general request for maintenance rather than explicitly inviting the manager to your specific unit to inspect the problem firsthand. To reach a higher level, you should expand more fully on each bullet point, providing clearer context about how the issue directly affects your daily living arrangements and giving a more prominent, distinct invitation for the manager to inspect your apartment.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

There is a coherent overall arrangement to your letter, and you attempt to use transitional phrases to structure your thoughts, such as 'Firstly' and 'Also'. However, cohesion is sometimes faulty or mechanical, and the paragraphing could be managed more effectively. For instance, putting almost the entire body of the letter into a single dense paragraph makes the flow feel slightly cluttered. Referencing and connections between sentences occasionally feel abrupt, particularly in how you transition from the pump breaking down to requesting a licensed electrician. To improve, you should separate your ideas into distinct, logical paragraphs—such as one for describing the problem, one for your suggested solutions, and a final one for the visit request—while using a wider variety of cohesive devices smoothly.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

Your vocabulary is minimally adequate for the task, successfully conveying the basic situation, but there are noticeable spelling and word choice errors that cause some difficulty for the reader. Words like 'workers' instead of 'worked', 'minuites', 'wokring', 'completed' instead of 'completely', 'electrian', 'avialable', 'peoples', 'maintaince', 'mechincal', and 'happing' detract from the quality of the writing. You do make some good attempts at less common vocabulary, such as 'preventive maintenance' and 'licensed electrician', but inaccuracies in spelling and word form hold your score back. To achieve a higher band, you need to expand your control over word forms and eliminate basic spelling mistakes through careful proofreading before submission.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response features a limited range of grammatical structures, relying heavily on simple or somewhat faulty complex sentences, and contains frequent errors that can cause difficulty for the reader. There are issues with verb tenses and agreement, such as 'Since, we move in the last month the water pump workers perfectly', where both the past tense and the auxiliary structures are handled inaccurately. Punctuation and article usage also need attention, as seen in awkward spacing before commas and missing articles like 'the' before apartment or building nouns. To improve your grammatical range and accuracy, you should practice forming complex sentences with subordinate clauses more reliably, ensuring that your verbs agree correctly with your subjects and that your punctuation follows standard conventions.

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

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