Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-09-15

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 Mr. Davis,

I am writing to inform you that I will be [extending my stay in the apartment for an additional twelve months beyond my original lease] on [October 1st].

This decision is due to [a recent long-term job promotion at my company's local office, meaning I will no longer be relocating]. While I have thoroughly enjoyed [living here], this step has become necessary. To ensure a smooth transition, I have arranged to [sign any updated agreement at your earliest convenience].

However, I wanted to notify you about [a leaking bathroom faucet that has worsened over the past week].

Please let me know a convenient time to [discuss the contract renewal and schedule a repair].

Yours sincerely,

Alex Turner

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The candidate has attempted to cover all bullet points in the prompt by stating how long they wish to extend the lease, explaining the change in plans due to a promotion, and mentioning the leaking bathroom faucet. However, there are significant structural placeholders and template brackets within the text, such as [extending my stay...] and [a recent long-term job promotion...]. Furthermore, the length requirement has NOT been met: the response is only 120 words long, falling well short of the 150-word minimum. Consequently, the task has been only partially addressed due to under-length and incomplete natural development, resulting in a band score of 5.0.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

Despite the reliance on bracketed placeholders, the letter maintains a logical chronological flow from the initial lease extension notification to the maintenance issue. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate distinct ideas, such as the reason for staying and the mention of the faucet problem. However, the heavy reliance on template phrases disrupts natural cohesion and progression, preventing the text from reaching higher bands. Referencing is generally clear, but the overall mechanical nature of the composition keeps it at a band 6.0 level.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The candidate attempts some appropriate vocabulary related to renting and workplace progression, such as 'long-term job promotion', 'relocating', and 'smooth transition'. However, because much of the core information is contained within bracketed placeholders rather than independently generated prose, the actual lexical range demonstrated is limited. There are no major spelling or word-choice errors within the student's own generated words, allowing for a competent evaluation of the restricted output, earning a band 5.5.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The sentence structures surrounding the bracketed sections are grammatically correct and show good control of simple and complex forms, such as in 'While I have thoroughly enjoyed living here, this step has become necessary.' Punctuation and capitalization are accurate throughout the student-written portions. The grammatical control is solid, but the restricted output and reliance on fill-in-the-blank structures limit the variety of complex structures demonstrated, leading to a band 6.0.

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

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