Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-08-25

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 Alis,

I hope you are doing well. I am writing this letter regarding my lease. I know that the initial lease was only for 6 months, but i would like to increase it for six more months if you do not have any problem.

My job training got increased by six month which is why i have to stay in this city for more 6 months, and it is not easy to find any other apartment at this last moment. That is the reason i wanted to extend the lease.

I also wanted to tell you that the air-conditioning is not working well. If you can just fix it , that would be great.

Please let me know if you are fine with this proposal.

You sincerely,

Charanpreet kaur.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The letter addresses all three bullet points: the duration of the extension, the reason for the change, and the maintenance issue. However, the response is significantly under the 150-word minimum, which negatively impacts the development of ideas. The explanation for the change in plans is somewhat repetitive, and the request regarding the air-conditioning is quite brief. To improve, you should expand on your points—for example, by describing the impact of the broken air-conditioner or providing more detail about your job training. Because the response fails to meet the length requirement, it cannot be awarded a score higher than 5.0 for this criterion.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The letter is organised into logical paragraphs, which helps the reader follow your message. You use basic cohesive devices such as 'which is why' and 'that is the reason'. However, the flow is somewhat mechanical, and the transition between the request for an extension and the maintenance issue is abrupt. To reach a higher band, try to use a wider variety of linking words and ensure that your paragraphs are more balanced in length. The overall structure is clear, but the lack of development makes the progression feel limited.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is adequate for the task but remains quite basic. You use common phrases like 'doing well', 'not working well', and 'fix it'. While these are accurate, they do not demonstrate the range required for a higher band. There are also minor issues with word choice, such as 'increase it' (referring to a lease, 'extend' is more appropriate). To improve, incorporate more precise vocabulary related to housing and formal correspondence, such as 'tenancy agreement', 'prolong', or 'malfunctioning'.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

You use a mix of simple and complex sentences, but there are several grammatical errors. For example, 'my job training got increased' is unnatural; 'was extended' would be better. There are also punctuation and capitalization errors, such as the lowercase 'i' used throughout the text and the incorrect sign-off 'You sincerely' instead of 'Yours sincerely'. While these errors do not prevent communication, they occur frequently enough to impact the score. Focus on proofreading for basic subject-verb agreement and capitalization to improve your accuracy.

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

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