Band 7.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 7.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-09-18

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 7.5)

Dear John,

I am writing to request you to extend my rent agreement by one year. Also, I would like to bring to your attention that the water heater in the apartment has stopped working. I request you to get it fixed at the earliest.

I am aware that our current rent agreement is still valid for another month. As you already know, when I signed the rent agreement five months ago, I had newly moved into town for consulting project at my client's office. The consulting contract is now extended by the client and I am required to continue working at client's office location for one more year. Moreover, new academic year has just started at my kid's school. I want to avoid having to enroll my child in a different school by not moving to a another place at this time. Hence, I would be highly grateful if you could extend our rent agreement by twelve months more.

I would also like to inform you about the broken water heater at the apartment. The water heater had stopped working around one week ago and since then, there has been no hot water supply in any of the faucets in the apartment. As a preautionary measure, I had a plumber check the appliance couple of days ago and he had provided initial quote for the repairs. I would greatly appreciate it if you could get this problem fixed as soon as possible since the winter season is almost upon us.

Looking forward for your response on both fronts. My family and I love the apartment and the closeness of this location to nearby stores and my kid's school. I hope that you would agree to extend the rent agreement and solve the water heater problem at the earliest.

Yours Sincerely,

Ajay Cilly

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 8.0

The response successfully covers all bullet points of the task. The student clearly states the desired extension period of one year, thoroughly explains the change of plans citing an extended consulting project and school continuity for their child, and effectively highlights the problem with the broken water heater. The tone is appropriate for a semi-formal/formal letter to a landlord. All requirements of the prompt are fully and naturally addressed with relevant supporting details, leading to a strong band score.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 8.0

The letter is logically organised into clear paragraphs, each serving a distinct purpose such as introduction, explaining the change of plans, detailing the maintenance issue, and concluding. Cohesive devices are used naturally and effectively throughout the text, such as 'Moreover', 'Hence', and 'As a precautionary measure'. Paragraphing is handled well, ensuring smooth transitions between the lease extension request and the water heater problem. Referencing and progression are clear from beginning to end.

Lexical Resource — Band 7.0

The student demonstrates a sufficient and flexible range of vocabulary appropriate for a general correspondence task. Terms such as 'precautionary measure', 'initial quote', and 'closeness' show good control of everyday and semi-formal language. There are occasional slight lexical inaccuracies, such as writing 'rent agreement' instead of 'tenancy agreement' or 'moving to a another place', but these minor slips do not impede communication. The vocabulary deployed adequately addresses the communicative goals.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 7.5

The response exhibits a good mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as 'As you already know, when I signed the rent agreement...'. There is good control over grammar and punctuation, with the majority of sentences being error-free. Minor slips occur, such as omitting an article ('consulting project' instead of 'a consulting project') and 'moving to a another place', but these errors are infrequent and do not cause comprehension difficulties for the reader.

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

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