Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-09-06

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 owner,

Today i am writing this letter to inform you that I am making plan to shift due to some reason.

I have been living in your apartment from last 4 months, but now i have to leave this place. As you know, i am studying master education so my college is far away from my house, due to that i had to face a lot of struggles to reach my college. Sometimes went late at college .

Whenever, i did not reach at my college on proper time , my teacher scold me .

Moreover, i am requesting you to inform you that i want to shift at another place . I hope you will fully understand my problem and would try to know my situation.

Hence, it would be great if you will give me permission to do this .

Your faithfully

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 4.0

The response fails to address the core prompt. The instructions explicitly ask you to write to the owner to request an extension of your rental agreement. However, your letter states the opposite: you express a desire to 'shift' (move out) of the apartment. Because you have misunderstood the primary purpose of the task, the response is largely off-topic. Furthermore, the letter is under the 150-word minimum requirement, which negatively impacts the task achievement score. While you mention a problem (the distance to college), the failure to correctly identify the goal of the letter significantly limits your ability to fulfill the task requirements.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The letter lacks a logical flow. The paragraphs are poorly structured, and the transition between ideas is abrupt. You use basic cohesive devices like 'Moreover' and 'Hence', but they are often used incorrectly or do not logically connect the preceding and following sentences. The lack of clear paragraphing makes the letter feel like a collection of disjointed sentences rather than a cohesive piece of correspondence. The referencing is also unclear, particularly when you refer to 'some reason' without specifying what you mean until later in the text.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary is very limited and repetitive. You rely on basic words like 'shift', 'problem', and 'college'. There is a lack of variety, and some word choices are inappropriate for a formal letter, such as 'shift' instead of 'move' or 'relocate'. You also struggle with collocations; for example, 'master education' is not a natural way to describe your studies. The errors in word choice are frequent and occasionally make the intended meaning slightly difficult to follow, though the general message remains understandable.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

There are frequent grammatical errors throughout the text that impede clarity. You struggle with verb tenses ('I am making plan', 'I have been living... from last 4 months'), subject-verb agreement ('my teacher scold me'), and sentence structure. Many sentences are simple and lack the complexity required for higher bands. Punctuation is also inconsistent, with unnecessary spaces before commas and periods. These errors are persistent and occur in almost every sentence, which significantly affects the readability of your writing.

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

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