Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · 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 6.5)

Dear Owner,

I hope you are doing well. I am writing this letter to ask you for the approval to increase the lease agreement.

I know, I agreed to rent this apartment for six months but It would be greatly appreciated if you can extend the lease to at least one year for now. It might subject to change but I will let you know prior.

I had to change my plans as I was looking for my internship in other towns but unfortunately, I could not get anywhere else and have to stay in this city to complete my further internship.

Till date I did not face any problems in your apartment but recently there is a water leakage in the bathroom which needs to be fixed urgently as the tenant below our apartment is constantly complaining about the leakage being running over his bedroom.

I hope you can accept my new lease agreement and it would be greatly valued to fix the water problem as soon as possible.

Thank You.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

You have successfully addressed all three bullet points in the prompt. You clearly stated the desired extension period, provided a logical reason for the change in plans regarding your internship, and identified the specific maintenance issue with the bathroom leak. The tone is appropriate for a formal letter to a landlord. The ideas are relevant and well-developed, ensuring the reader understands your request and the urgency of the repair. To reach a higher band, ensure that your opening and closing are slightly more polished and that you avoid minor inaccuracies in phrasing, such as 'ask you for the approval to increase the lease agreement'.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The letter is logically organized with a clear progression of ideas. Each paragraph focuses on a specific requirement of the task, which helps the reader follow your request easily. You use some cohesive devices, such as 'Till date' and 'unfortunately', to link your ideas. However, the transitions between sentences could be more sophisticated. For example, the connection between the lease extension and the maintenance issue is a bit abrupt. Using a wider variety of linking words or phrases would improve the flow and help you achieve a higher score in this criterion.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for this task. You use relevant terms like 'lease agreement', 'internship', and 'water leakage'. However, there are some minor inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'increase the lease agreement' (which should be 'extend the lease') and 'leakage being running over' (which is unnatural). While these do not impede communication, they prevent the response from reaching a higher band. To improve, try to use more precise collocations and avoid repetitive phrasing.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is generally clear, there are several grammatical errors, such as 'It might subject to change' (should be 'It might be subject to change') and 'I did not face any problems' (should be 'I have not faced any problems'). Additionally, there are minor punctuation issues, such as the capitalization of 'It' in the middle of a sentence. The errors are frequent enough to be noticeable but do not cause significant difficulty for the reader. Focusing on verb tenses and sentence construction will help improve your accuracy.

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

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