Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-08-22

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 Martin,

I am writing this letter to request you for extending my current lease which is going to expire next month. Initially I agreed to rent your apartment for six-month only as I had two semester left in my course. However my plans got changed and now I need this apartment for next one year.

While studying my bachelor in civil engineering I was applying for internship in multinational companies, fortunately I have got an offer letter for one year internship in Tata Consultancy and got handsome salary package. The Tata Consultancy is just a five minutes walk from this apartment and that is why I need this apartment as an accommodation for next one year. I am also ready to give you more rent if you want.

Apart from that I would like to let know some problems with this apartment which need your attention and need to be taken care urgently; in kitchen there is a water leakage which needs to be repaired and in leaving room the walls are needed to be painted again as the pain is getting old now.

I am looking forward to hear back from you.

Yours sincerely,

Harsh Patel

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 (a new internship), and the maintenance issues in the apartment. The tone is appropriate for a formal request to a landlord. The ideas are clearly presented and the purpose of the letter is immediately evident. The response is well-structured, and the inclusion of specific details, such as the location of the internship and the nature of the repairs, helps to fully develop the response. All requirements of the prompt are met effectively.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The letter is logically organized into clear paragraphs, each serving a distinct purpose. The progression of ideas is smooth, moving from the request to the justification and finally to the maintenance issues. Cohesive devices such as 'However', 'While', and 'Apart from that' are used to link ideas effectively. While the transition between the internship details and the maintenance request is slightly abrupt, the overall structure remains coherent and easy to follow. The use of paragraphing is appropriate for a formal letter.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The vocabulary is generally appropriate for the task, with some good collocations like 'offer letter' and 'multinational companies'. However, there are some minor inaccuracies and awkward phrasing, such as 'request you for extending' (should be 'request an extension') and 'pain is getting old' (should be 'paint is peeling' or 'faded'). While the range is sufficient to convey meaning clearly, it lacks the precision and sophistication required for a higher band. The errors do not impede communication, but they do highlight a need for more natural word choices.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The letter demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are several grammatical errors, such as 'six-month only' (should be 'six months'), 'my plans got changed' (should be 'my plans have changed'), and 'studying my bachelor' (should be 'studying for my bachelor's degree'). Additionally, there are punctuation issues, such as the run-on sentence in the third paragraph. While the meaning is always clear, the frequency of these minor errors prevents the writing from reaching a higher band. A more careful proofreading of verb tenses and prepositions would improve the accuracy.

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

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