Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · 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 5.5)

Dear Mr. Sharma,

I hope you are well. I am writing this letter to you about agreement of renting an apartment.

As you know, previous agreement that I signed is only for sixth month that are going to complete next month in 1st September. Initially I had plan to stay only for six month in this area because of my contract based job which was also for six month but last week my manager said that company going to hire my as a permanent employee.

Because of this reason, I change my plan to move somewhere else.now I want to sign new agreement for one year. I want to live here because the neighbour are quite friendly, but some renovation need to be done

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The letter addresses all three bullet points: the desired duration, the reason for the change, and the mention of a maintenance issue. However, the response is significantly under the 150-word minimum, which limits the development of ideas. The explanation regarding the job contract is clear, but the mention of the renovation is abrupt and lacks detail. To improve, you should expand on the nature of the repair needed and provide a more formal closing to ensure the tone is appropriate for a landlord-tenant communication.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The letter is organized into short paragraphs, which is appropriate for the format. However, the progression of ideas is somewhat disjointed. There is a lack of cohesive devices to link sentences smoothly; for example, the transition between the job update and the request for an extension is abrupt. The use of referencing is occasionally unclear, such as 'Because of this reason', which could be more naturally phrased. Improving the use of linking words like 'consequently', 'furthermore', or 'in addition' would help the flow of the letter.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is adequate for the task but remains quite basic. You use repetitive phrasing, such as 'six month' and 'agreement'. There are some errors in word choice and collocation, such as 'contract based job' (should be 'contract-based job') and 'company going to hire my' (should be 'hire me'). To reach a higher band, you should incorporate more precise vocabulary related to housing and employment, such as 'tenancy agreement', 'permanent position', or 'maintenance requirements'.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The letter contains a mix of simple and some attempted complex structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors. Issues include missing articles ('in 1st September'), incorrect verb forms ('company going to hire'), and subject-verb agreement errors ('the neighbour are'). Punctuation is also inconsistent, with missing full stops and capitalization issues. While the meaning is generally understandable, the frequency of these errors impacts the overall accuracy of the writing.

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

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