Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-08-15

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 Smith,

I hope you are doing well! I am writing this letter to check if there are any possibilities to extend my house rental contract.

Since I will be completing a 6-month lease on August 26th. I would like to extend my agreement for another 6 months to enhance my career opportunities.

Actually, I was supposed to complete my Project Management course on August 20th but recently I received update from my course advisor that there will be a campus requirements held by several renowned organisations in the month of November. Therefore, I would like to extend my contract to grab the opportunities and foster my career growth in the city.

As I already informed about the water leakage from the kitchen sink, this started causing numerous damages to the cupboards and floor mats and house smells extremely awful to stay. Hence, it will be highly appreciated if you can arrange professionals plumber for inspection.

I hope you will consider my request and look into the issue.

Yours sincerely,

Anjali Reddy

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

The letter successfully addresses all three bullet points: the duration of the extension, the reason for the change in plans, and the maintenance issue. The tone is appropriate for a formal request to a landlord. The ideas are clearly presented, and the purpose of the letter is evident from the start. To reach a higher band, the student could provide more specific details regarding the maintenance issue, such as how long the leak has been occurring, to further develop the response.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The letter is logically organized with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a closing. Cohesive devices such as 'Since', 'Therefore', and 'Hence' are used to link ideas. However, the transition between the request for extension and the maintenance issue is slightly abrupt. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the different topics, which helps the reader follow the progression of the letter.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.5

The vocabulary is generally appropriate for the task, with phrases like 'enhance my career opportunities' and 'foster my career growth'. There are some minor collocation issues, such as 'arrange professionals plumber' (should be 'a professional plumber') and 'house smells extremely awful' (which is slightly informal). Despite these minor inaccuracies, the range is sufficient to convey the message clearly and effectively.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The student uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are some grammatical errors, such as the sentence fragment 'Since I will be completing a 6-month lease on August 26th.' and the missing article in 'there will be a campus requirements'. Additionally, 'I already informed' should be 'I have already informed'. While these errors are present, they do not impede communication, and the meaning remains clear throughout the letter.

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

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