Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-09-17
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 Managment team,
I am writing regadring the situation about my expiring lease agreement and i wish to extend my contract with your team. Moreover i have been living in this apartment sinces 5 months and my contract is about to end so i really want to extend it till 2 years.
To provide more details, at first i was facing some issue in this building as my fridge and microwave wasn't working well but now as you installed new one i felt so happy not only this but the issue with my neighbour about noise is now resovled. This was the reason i wasn't sure about extending my contract but now everything seems fine.
I look forward to your postive response about extending my contract without changing the floor. If you need anything from my side please feel free to ask me. Also, i forgot to mention about water leakage from washing machine and i wish you will solve this matter too.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 6.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0
The response successfully covers all the required bullet points of the prompt. The student clearly states the desired duration for the extended rental ('till 2 years'), explains why their plans changed due to previous issues being resolved and positive living conditions, and mentions a new problem regarding water leakage from the washing machine. Although the tone and salutation ('Dear Managment team') are slightly informal and contain minor deviations, the communicative purpose is fully achieved, and all requirements are addressed satisfactorily, aligning well with the Band 6 descriptor criteria.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The letter exhibits a coherent overall arrangement, and the information is divided into paragraphs, which aids readability. However, cohesive devices are sometimes faulty, mechanical, or omitted entirely, such as the run-on sentence structure in 'Moreover i have been living...'. Referencing is occasionally unclear, and logical links between sentences lack smoothness. Paragraphing is present, but the internal transitions between ideas need better control to reach a higher band level.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, allowing the student to communicate basic needs, apartment features, and issues effectively. However, there are noticeable spelling and word-choice errors, such as 'regadring' instead of regarding, 'sinces' instead of since, 'postive' instead of positive, and 'Managment' instead of Management. The range of vocabulary is somewhat limited, and attempts at less common words are occasionally inaccurate, placing this response firmly in the Band 5 to 6 range.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The student uses a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, though complex structures are often faulty or punctuated incorrectly. There are frequent punctuation and capitalization errors, such as lowercase 'i' used independently throughout the text ('and i wish', 'at first i was'). Other grammatical inaccuracies include 'fridge and microwave wasn't working' (plural subject with singular verb) and 'as you installed new one' (missing article/pluralization). These errors do not entirely impede communication, but they occur frequently enough to restrict the score to Band 5.5.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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