Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-08-20

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 Landlord

I am Jeel sevak and i am writing this letter on behalf of express my concern regarding our lease agreement because when i have rented this apartment we only have half years contract for this but now i have stayed here and i like to extend our lease agreement and i want to live here for more than six months.

I have rented this apartment because of my work that's why i have stay here in this city but now company has extended my contract for 3 months so i have to live here for more 3 months that's why i am requesting to extended it for 3 months and also want to talk to you about some of the problems that i had in this apartment the most important one is electricity because all day i have do my work on computer for that need electricity i am very serious about this because from past few days it happing every day half of the we don't have electricity in our house i have already made an complain to building management.

your faithfully

Jeel sevak

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

You have addressed all three bullet points: the duration of the extension, the reason for the change, and the issue with electricity. However, the development of these points is somewhat limited. The explanation regarding your work contract is clear, but the description of the electricity problem is repetitive and lacks a formal tone suitable for a letter to a landlord. To improve, ensure you provide more specific details about the impact of the power outages and use a more professional tone throughout the letter to better meet the requirements of a formal request.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The letter lacks clear paragraphing, which makes it difficult for the reader to follow the progression of your ideas. You have grouped all your points into two long blocks of text rather than separating the introduction, the request, the explanation, the problem, and the closing. While you use some cohesive devices like 'that's why' and 'also', they are used repetitively and sometimes incorrectly. To reach a higher band, you should use clear paragraph breaks for each new topic and employ a wider variety of linking words to connect your sentences more naturally.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

Your vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, but it is quite basic and repetitive. Phrases like 'I am writing this letter on behalf of express my concern' are grammatically awkward and unnatural. You rely on simple words and struggle with collocations, such as 'made an complain' instead of 'made a complaint'. To improve, try to incorporate more precise vocabulary related to housing and formal requests, and focus on using correct word forms to ensure your meaning is conveyed clearly and professionally.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

There are frequent grammatical errors throughout the letter, particularly with sentence structure, verb tenses, and punctuation. For example, 'when i have rented this apartment we only have half years contract' contains multiple tense errors. Many of your sentences are run-on sentences that lack proper punctuation, making them difficult to read. You rely heavily on simple sentence structures and struggle when attempting more complex ones. To improve, focus on basic sentence construction, ensure subject-verb agreement, and practice using full stops to separate distinct ideas rather than joining them with 'and' or 'that's why'.

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

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