Band 4.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.5 · Barron's Writing · 2026-10-29

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 4.5)

Dear manager

i hope your doing well, i wanna share you a problem that I am facing for few days. The problem is water leakage, we need to fix this. I can fix the water leakage, i am going to work after returning home i feel tired. it need to be fix because i just a small leakage but i could become more bigger.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 3.5

You identify the main issue as water leakage and explain that it needs attention, so the letter is relevant to the task. However, it addresses the instructions only minimally: there are no details about where the leak is or how it is affecting the apartment, and the proposed action is unclear. “I can fix the water leakage” conflicts with the request for building management to arrange repairs. Most importantly, you do not ask the manager to visit, and the response is substantially below the required 150 words. To develop the letter, describe the leak and its consequences, state what repair you want arranged, and clearly request a visit.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.0

The reader can follow the basic topic because you introduce the problem directly: “The problem is water leakage.” There is also a simple sequence from greeting to explanation. However, the ideas are not developed into a clear progression, and the short response ends without a request or closing. The sentence about being tired after work interrupts the explanation rather than linking clearly to the repair plan. Use separate paragraphs for the problem, its effects and your requested action, and connect them with straightforward phrases such as “As a result” and “Could you therefore”. A complete letter structure would make the message easier to follow.

Lexical Resource: Band 4.5

You use basic vocabulary that communicates the central issue, including “water leakage” and “fix”. This is enough for the reader to understand the general problem, but the range is narrow and some expressions are not natural or precise for a formal letter. For example, “share you a problem” does not express the intended meaning idiomatically, while “more bigger” is an inaccurate comparative form. “Small leakage” also gives little detail about the issue. Build a more suitable range with phrases such as “report a leak”, “repair the pipe” and “the leak may worsen”, and choose a polite, formal register when addressing the manager.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You communicate the main point using mostly simple sentence patterns, and the meaning is generally recoverable. There is an attempt to combine ideas, for example, “I am going to work after returning home i feel tired,” but the clauses are not joined correctly and the sentence is difficult to follow. Other errors include “your doing” instead of “you’re doing”, “it need” instead of “it needs”, and “it need to be fix” instead of “it needs to be fixed”. Capitalisation and punctuation are also inconsistent, particularly the lowercase “i”. Practise accurate subject–verb agreement, contractions, passive forms and sentence boundaries before attempting longer sentences.

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

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