Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-08-06

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

Five months ago, you started renting an apartment on a six-month agreement. You now wish to stay in the apartment for longer than the six months you originally agreed with the owner.

Write a letter to the owner of your apartment. In your letter

• say how long you now want to rent the apartment for
• explain why your plans have changed
• tell the owner about a problem in the apartment

You do NOT need to write any addresses.

Begin your letter as follows:

Dear ....................................,

Student answer (Band 6.0)

Dear Raju Patel,

I hope you are doing well, I am writing this letter to request you to expand the agreement from five months to 12 months, in any best possible ways.

However, being a loyal tenant who never fails to deliver the rent on time, taking care of the property like it's own, keeping things well organised, and maintaining friendly atmosphere. Actually, I promised to stay there for not more than 5 months, but due to the changes in my program I would need to expand the stay at your apartment. Moreover, I tried my best to find a convinient property, near to my college, but unfortunately, was not able to find any, though, the house I'm renting is one of the best places I've ever lived. But, I would like to share couple problems with you regarding the water and parking facility. Since few weeks I am facing serious issues with water outage, which is a major concern, also the parking area is always occupied, where I face parking problems too. Hopefully, you will be able to help me out from the situation and also will allow me to stay 6 months more at your place. Hoping for an early response from your side.

Yours sincerely,

Vraj Patel

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The letter covers all three bullet points required by the prompt: the duration of the extension, the reason for the change in plans, and the mention of apartment issues. The tone is generally appropriate for a formal letter to a landlord. However, the development of ideas is slightly hampered by awkward phrasing, such as 'expand the agreement... in any best possible ways.' While the intent is clear, the expression is somewhat unnatural. The request for the extension is clear, and the problems with water and parking are addressed, though the explanation for the change in plans could have been more specific to sound more professional.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The letter is organized into a logical structure, beginning with the purpose of the letter and moving through the required points. However, the use of cohesive devices is sometimes mechanical or misused. For example, the second paragraph begins with 'However,' which is an inappropriate transition for the context, as there is no contrast being introduced. Additionally, the paragraphing is somewhat disjointed, as the entire body of the letter is contained in one long, dense paragraph. Using separate paragraphs for the request, the explanation, and the problems would have significantly improved the flow and readability of the text.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The vocabulary is adequate for the task, allowing the student to communicate their needs effectively. There are some attempts at more sophisticated vocabulary, such as 'loyal tenant' and 'major concern.' However, there are several instances of imprecise word choice and collocation errors, such as 'expand the agreement' (extend the lease), 'convinient property' (spelling error: convenient), and 'share couple problems' (missing article: a couple of problems). While these errors do not impede communication, they indicate a need for more attention to natural collocations and standard English phrasing.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The student uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are several grammatical errors throughout the text, such as 'I am writing this letter to request you to expand' (should be 'request that you extend'), 'like it's own' (should be 'like its own'), and 'Since few weeks' (should be 'For the past few weeks'). Punctuation is also inconsistent, particularly with comma splices in the opening sentence. While the meaning remains clear, the frequency of these errors prevents the writing from reaching a higher band score. More focus on subject-verb agreement and preposition usage is recommended.

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

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