Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-08-29

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 5.0)

Dear Sir or Madam

I am writing because I would like to kindly ask you to shorter my rental agreement for longer that we previously pacted.

Inicitially our agreement was for six month because of my estudies, but I have decided to extend my carreer program in other country for one year more, because I just one an scolarship, I already know that we already have a periord agreement, but I would like to ask you shorter this period to just 3 months

I was really happy in this place, it is not only convenient, also it is safe, and I really enjoyed walking around surround areas, but the problem in the appartment also motivated me to take this decision.

kind regards

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The response fails to meet the minimum word count requirement of 150 words, which significantly impacts the development of the task. While you addressed the three bullet points—requesting an extension, explaining the change in plans, and mentioning a problem—the content is underdeveloped. For instance, the 'problem in the apartment' is mentioned vaguely without any specific details, which is a requirement of the task. Furthermore, there is a contradiction in your request: you state you want to stay 'longer' but then ask to 'shorten' the period to 3 months. This confusion makes the purpose of the letter unclear to the reader.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The letter is divided into paragraphs, which is a positive step, but the logical progression is hindered by the confusing request mentioned above. The use of cohesive devices is limited and sometimes inaccurate, such as the misuse of 'not only... also' in the third paragraph, which should be 'not only... but also'. The transition between the request for an extension and the mention of the apartment problem is abrupt. To improve, ensure that each paragraph has a clear focus and that you use linking words like 'consequently' or 'furthermore' to connect your ideas more fluidly.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

Your vocabulary is quite limited and contains several spelling errors that occasionally impede meaning, such as 'estudies' (studies), 'carreer' (career), 'scolarship' (scholarship), and 'appartment' (apartment). You also use 'pacted' instead of 'agreed' or 'contracted'. While you attempt to use some descriptive language ('convenient', 'safe'), the overall range is insufficient to express your ideas with precision. You need to focus on accurate spelling and using more natural collocations for formal correspondence, such as 'extend my rental agreement' rather than 'shorter my rental agreement'.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

There are frequent grammatical errors throughout the text that affect clarity. Examples include 'shorter my rental agreement' (should be 'extend'), 'longer that we previously pacted' (should be 'longer than we previously agreed'), and 'I just one an scolarship' (should be 'I just won a scholarship'). Sentence structures are generally simple, and there are errors in verb tense and word choice. To reach a higher band, you should practice using a wider variety of complex sentence structures and proofread carefully to correct basic subject-verb agreement and word form errors.

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

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