Band 7.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 7.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-08-18

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 7.5)

Dear Mrs. Patel,

I'm writing to express my willingness to extend my renting agreement beyond six-months, as agreed initially.

Since I moved to this place five-months ago with a plan to stay here for only six-months as I was supposed to complete my internship of 180 days, and then, return back to my hometown. However, fortunately, I have cleared my interview with the same company, where I finished my co-op. Perhaps, as the company wants me to start from the next month, therefore, I wish to rent this apartment for the next six more months.

While staying here, I faced few significant issues, which I eagerly want to discuss with you. Firstly, the main problem is with the faucet of the kitchen, and the powder room, which is constantly leaking from last few days, and needs to be fixed as soon as possible to avoid any water wastage. Apart from that, lighting in the whole apartment is quite dim, and I usually face difficulty especially during the night time to prepare my projects.

I am extremely excited to stay here for longer than I expected, and I look forward to hear from you soon.

Yours sincerely,

Manphool Kaur

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 8.0

You have successfully addressed all three bullet points in the prompt. You clearly stated your desire to extend the lease, provided a logical explanation regarding your internship and subsequent job offer, and identified specific maintenance issues. The tone is appropriate for a formal letter to a landlord. The ideas are well-developed and the purpose of the letter is clear from the beginning. You have fully satisfied the requirements of the task.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 8.0

The letter is logically organized with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a closing. You use cohesive devices such as 'However', 'While', 'Firstly', and 'Apart from that' to guide the reader through your points. Paragraphing is used effectively to separate the request from the maintenance issues. The progression of ideas is smooth, and the relationship between the sentences is clear throughout the text.

Lexical Resource — Band 7.0

You demonstrate a good range of vocabulary appropriate for the context, such as 'willingness', 'extend', 'internship', and 'maintenance'. While there are some minor inaccuracies, such as 'cleared my interview' (which is understandable but slightly informal) and 'powder room' (which is a specific term that might be better as 'bathroom'), the vocabulary is sufficient to convey your meaning precisely. You avoid repetition and use a variety of functional phrases.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 7.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures effectively. There are some minor grammatical slips, such as 'from last few days' (should be 'for the last few days') and 'the lighting' (no 'the' needed). Additionally, the sentence starting with 'Perhaps, as the company...' is slightly clunky due to the double conjunction. However, these errors are infrequent and do not impede communication. The majority of your sentences are error-free and show good control over tense and structure.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.