Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-09-05

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 Sir or Madam,

I hope you are doing well. I am writing to ask if it would be possible to extend my rental settlement, which is due next month.

I would like to say that I want to rent this apartment for a few extra months. I recently got an opportunity to continue my studies in the same area. Initially, I planned to move away after completing my studies, but now I have received an offer from a university to continue my education here. Therefore, I am staying here in the same area. So I wish to extend my rental consent. It would be greatly appreciated.

On the other hand, I would like to mention a problem in the apartment. The heating system is not working properly. Sometimes the area gets a little extra cold, which makes living here a bit hard. I would appreciate it if you could arrange for someone to inspect and repair it as soon as possible.

Thank you for your consideration. I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours faithfully,

Mehakpreet Kaur

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

You have successfully addressed all three bullet points in the prompt. You clearly stated your intention to extend the rental, provided a logical reason regarding your studies, and identified the issue with the heating system. The tone is appropriate for a formal letter to a landlord. To reach a higher band, you could have been more specific about the duration of the extension (e.g., 'for an additional six months') rather than using the vague phrase 'a few extra months'. Overall, the purpose of the letter is clear and the response is well-developed.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The letter is logically organized with a clear introduction, body paragraphs for each point, and a polite closing. Each paragraph focuses on a single topic, which makes the letter easy to follow. You used some cohesive devices such as 'Initially', 'Therefore', and 'On the other hand' to link your ideas. However, the transition between the second and third paragraphs could be smoother. The use of referencing is generally clear, and the overall progression of ideas is logical and easy to navigate.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You have an adequate range of vocabulary for this task. Phrases like 'greatly appreciated', 'rental settlement', and 'arrange for someone to inspect' are appropriate for the context. However, there are some minor inaccuracies in word choice, such as 'rental settlement' (which usually refers to a financial agreement rather than a lease) and 'rental consent' (which is not a standard collocation). Using more precise terms like 'lease agreement' or 'tenancy' would improve your score. The vocabulary is sufficient to convey your meaning clearly without any confusion.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.5

You demonstrate a good mix of simple and complex sentence structures. Most of your sentences are clear and error-free, which ensures that communication is never impeded. There are a few minor issues, such as 'the area gets a little extra cold', which is slightly unnatural; 'the apartment becomes quite cold' would be better. Your control over punctuation and basic grammar is solid. To improve, try to incorporate a wider variety of complex structures, such as conditional sentences (e.g., 'If it were possible to extend...'), to demonstrate higher grammatical flexibility.

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

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