Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-08-26

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 Mr. Singh,

I hope you are doing well. I am writing to request extend my stay in an apartment beyond the original contract.

I have been living at apartment building 1580 for the last five months. According to contract, I am allowed to live there for up to 6 months, but now I want to stay six more months which would be one year in total.

I changed my plan because I enrolled in a crash course in an reputed institute that is near to the building and it will lasts in 6 months. So, if I stay there more months, it can reduce my travel time to the institute as I plan to attend classes in person.

Although apartment is quite good in condition, I request that some furniture should be added in the living area as it is hard to stay all the time in the room, so if there would be a comfortable sofa in the living area, I can relax whenever I have days off or extra free time.

Thank you in advance for your time and consideration. I hope my request would be accepted and appropriate furniture would be added.

Yours sincerely,

Soni.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

You have successfully addressed all three bullet points in the prompt. You clearly stated the desired extension period, provided a logical reason for the change in plans (the crash course), and identified a specific issue regarding the lack of furniture. The tone is appropriate for a formal letter to a landlord. To reach a higher band, ensure that your explanations are slightly more detailed; for instance, you could have elaborated on why the specific furniture would improve your living situation beyond just 'relaxing'. Overall, the task is fully covered and the purpose of the letter is clear throughout.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The letter is logically organized with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a closing. Each paragraph focuses on a single topic, which helps the reader follow your argument easily. You use some cohesive devices like 'Although', 'So', and 'In addition' to link ideas. However, the transition between the request for an extension and the mention of the furniture could be smoother. Some of the sentence structures are a bit repetitive in their construction. Using a wider variety of linking words and ensuring that referencing (e.g., 'the building', 'the apartment') is always precise will help improve the flow of your writing.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You have an adequate range of vocabulary to convey your message clearly. Phrases like 'request to extend my stay' and 'time and consideration' are appropriate for this formal context. However, there are some minor inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'in an reputed institute' (should be 'a reputed institute') and 'it will lasts in 6 months' (should be 'it will last for 6 months'). To improve, try to use more precise collocations and ensure that your articles and prepositions are used correctly. Your vocabulary is sufficient for the task but lacks the sophistication required for higher bands.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

You demonstrate a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While your meaning is always clear, there are several grammatical errors that occur throughout the text. For example, 'request extend' should be 'request to extend', and 'if there would be a comfortable sofa' is grammatically awkward; 'if you could provide a comfortable sofa' would be more natural. Additionally, there are issues with verb tense and agreement, such as 'it will lasts'. While these errors do not impede communication, they are frequent enough to prevent a higher score. Focus on subject-verb agreement and the correct use of modal verbs for requests.

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.