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 Mr. Landlord

Greetings for the day, hope you are doing well. I, the tenant in your appartment would like to inform you that the period of our six month agreement is going to end in this month. However, i wish to stay in the same property for 2 more months as i could not find another place due to my poor health in last few weeks and currently under treatment for the same. In view of this, i request you to kindly give permission to stay in your property for 2 more month i.e. september and october, 2026 and extend the agreement in this regard.

In addition, i also want to bring to your notice that the grass mowing maching went out of order on yesterday while mowing due to some spark in it and now needs to be repaired or changed. Hoping for the positive response in the matter and I shall be highly grateful for you.

Yours sincerely

Rentee name

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 a maintenance issue. The tone is generally appropriate for a formal request to a landlord. However, the development of ideas is somewhat basic. For instance, the explanation regarding the health issue is brief, and the description of the maintenance problem could be more precise. To reach a higher band, ensure that the purpose of the letter is stated clearly in the opening and that each point is expanded with slightly more detail to demonstrate a more professional and persuasive tone.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The letter is logically organized into paragraphs, with each paragraph focusing on a specific aspect of the request. The progression of ideas is clear, moving from the request for extension to the explanation and finally the maintenance issue. However, the use of cohesive devices is somewhat mechanical and limited. Phrases like 'In addition' and 'In view of this' are used correctly, but the overall flow could be improved by using a wider variety of linking words and ensuring that the transition between sentences feels more natural. Paragraphing is present but could be more effectively utilized to separate the distinct points.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The vocabulary is adequate for the task, allowing the message to be conveyed clearly. There are some instances of slightly unnatural phrasing, such as 'Greetings for the day' and 'mowing maching'. While the meaning is clear, the range of vocabulary is somewhat limited and relies on basic descriptors. To improve, you should focus on using more precise collocations and formal business terminology suitable for a landlord-tenant correspondence. Spelling errors, such as 'appartment' and 'maching', also detract from the overall quality of the writing.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The letter contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is generally clear, there are several grammatical errors, including the inconsistent capitalization of 'i', missing articles (e.g., 'in last few weeks'), and incorrect preposition usage (e.g., 'on yesterday'). Punctuation is also inconsistent, particularly regarding commas and sentence boundaries. To achieve a higher score, you should focus on proofreading for basic grammatical accuracy, specifically subject-verb agreement and the correct use of articles and pronouns. Increasing the variety of complex sentence structures while maintaining accuracy will also help improve this score.

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

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