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 Sir and Madam,

I am writing this letter to request you regarding my stay in your apartment. I want to extend my stay in the apartment for longer then the six months that I originally agreed with you.

I want to rent apartment for extra six months except our original agreement. I want to increase my length so I am requesting you to accept these changes and update our contract.

As I am planning to take another six months educational course in the same college, it will be very convinent for me to stay at the same place and commute for my college.

It is significantly comfortable to live in your apartment. However, there are two problems that I am facing. One is about lighting, it is very deem and low. it makes my reading difficult at night and it puts a lot of strain on my eyes. Another issue is that washroom does not have a lock, it is getting hard to maintain privacy and comfort.

I hope you will understand my situation. I will wait for your prompt response.

Yours faithfully,

Banty

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

You have addressed all three bullet points of the prompt effectively. You clearly stated the desired extension period, explained the change in plans due to your educational course, and identified two specific maintenance issues. The tone is appropriate for a formal letter to a landlord. To reach a higher band, ensure your explanation of the extension is more concise; for example, phrases like 'I want to increase my length' are slightly unnatural. Overall, the purpose of the letter is clear and the requirements are fully met.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The letter is logically organized with clear paragraphing. Each paragraph focuses on a specific aspect of the task, which helps the reader follow your ideas easily. You use some cohesive devices such as 'However' and 'As I am planning', which help connect your thoughts. To improve, try to vary your linking words further and ensure that referencing is precise. For instance, in the second paragraph, the transition between sentences could be smoother to avoid a slightly repetitive structure.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for this task, such as 'commute', 'significantly', and 'privacy'. However, there are some inaccuracies in word choice and spelling that slightly hinder the flow. For example, you used 'deem' instead of 'dim' and 'convinent' instead of 'convenient'. Additionally, 'increase my length' is not a natural collocation in this context. Focusing on more precise vocabulary and checking spelling will help you achieve a higher score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While your meaning is generally clear, there are several grammatical slips, such as 'longer then' (should be 'than') and 'washroom does not have a lock' (missing an article 'the'). There are also some punctuation errors, such as starting a sentence with a lowercase letter ('it makes my reading...'). While these errors do not impede communication, they occur frequently enough to prevent a higher score. Focus on subject-verb agreement and basic proofreading for articles and capitalization.

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

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