Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-08-13

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 6.5)

Dear Smith,

I am writing this letter to extend my apartment's rental agreement duration which is expiring soon. We had signed the agreement only for six months; however, I would like to live for another 6 months. I am attending SFU university which is located nearby this apartment, and the course in which i am enrolled is supposed to be finished in next month, however, our university has extended the course for another 6-months, so this can make me easier to attend the classes. Along with this, all amenities such as shopping malls, grocery stores, and supermarkets are closer to this location. I never had any issues in this apartment, but since last month, I have been dealing with the leakage issue in the washroom. I tried to fix it by myself, but I was unable to repair this leakage. Please extend the rental duration and send the plumber to fix the leakage issue. I expect a positive response from you. If you have any further questions, please feel free to reach out to me.

Yours sincerely,

Marco

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

The letter successfully addresses all three bullet points: the duration of the extension, the reason for the change, and the maintenance issue. The tone is appropriate for a formal request to a landlord. The ideas are relevant and clearly presented, though the explanation regarding the university course extension could be slightly more concise to improve flow. Overall, the response fulfills the requirements of the task effectively, providing all necessary information in a clear and logical manner.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The letter is logically organized, with a clear progression from the request to the explanation and finally the maintenance issue. Paragraphing is used, though the entire body of the letter is contained within a single paragraph. While the flow is generally good, the use of cohesive devices is somewhat basic (e.g., 'Along with this', 'however'). To reach a higher band, you should aim for more varied transitions between sentences to improve the overall cohesion of the text.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The vocabulary is adequate for the task and allows for clear communication. You use some relevant terms like 'rental agreement', 'amenities', and 'leakage issue'. However, the range is somewhat limited, and there are minor issues with collocation, such as 'make me easier to attend' which is slightly unnatural. Expanding your vocabulary to include more precise collocations and idiomatic expressions would help elevate your score in this criterion.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

You demonstrate a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are some grammatical inaccuracies, such as 'I would like to live for another 6 months' (should be 'extend my stay') and 'this can make me easier to attend' (should be 'this will make it easier for me to attend'). Additionally, there are minor punctuation and capitalization errors, such as 'i' instead of 'I'. While these errors do not impede communication, they indicate a need for more careful proofreading and a wider range of error-free complex structures.

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

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