Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-08-14

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 Sir or Madam,

I am writing a letter to increase the apartment agreement at least one year more.

I want to increase the agreement because this location is close to my workplace. I applied for further job but unfortunately i didnot get that job that's why i decide to continue my work in same place so i want to extend my rental agreement.

Please let me know if its possible to extend because i have alot of memories in this apartment and feel like its my own home.

I want to know to you that in this apartment the kitchen needs some repair and had leakage problem so if you call the plumber then it can sort the leakage problem

Hope you will reply as soon as possible.

Your Sincerely

Anjali Sharma

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The letter addresses all three bullet points: the duration of the extension, the reason for the change, and the maintenance issue. However, the response is under the 150-word minimum, which negatively impacts the development of ideas. The explanation regarding the job change is somewhat repetitive and lacks clarity. To improve, you should expand on your reasons and provide more detail regarding the maintenance request to ensure the letter is fully developed and meets the length requirement.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The letter is organised into short paragraphs, which is appropriate for a formal letter. However, the flow between sentences is often mechanical. There is a lack of cohesive devices to link ideas smoothly; for example, the transition between the job situation and the request for extension is abrupt. The use of referencing is occasionally unclear, such as in the sentence 'I want to know to you that in this apartment...', which disrupts the logical progression of the text.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is generally functional but limited. You rely on basic phrasing such as 'increase the apartment agreement' and 'sort the leakage problem', which are not natural collocations. There is little attempt to use more sophisticated or precise language. While the meaning is generally clear, the lack of variety and occasional awkward word choices (e.g., 'increase the agreement') restrict the score. Expanding your range of formal expressions would significantly improve your writing.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The response contains a mix of simple and some attempted complex structures, but there are frequent errors. Issues include missing articles ('in same place'), incorrect verb forms ('i didnot get'), and punctuation errors (missing commas and incorrect capitalization of 'i'). The sentence structure is often repetitive, and the phrasing 'I want to know to you' is grammatically incorrect. While the errors do not completely prevent communication, they are frequent enough to cause some difficulty for the reader.

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

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