Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · 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 6.5)

Dear Landlord.

I hope this letter finds you well.

I am writing to extend my lease agreement which I signed off five months ago for a six-month period. As per my original agreement, I supposed to stay here for a six-months, but now I wish to stay in your apartment for longer time.

I would like to extend my lease agreement for 1.5 year because I was supposing to move in my own apartment by end of this year, but due to delay in construction and unexpected certainity, I am not able to move in before at least a year.

Overall I like your apartment, however I would like to mention some problems which I face right now. I found a heating problem in the main hall as I could not get proper heating during cold weather, and as a result I cannot sit longer in the hall. Above on that, I have found some minor leaking problem in the kitchen sink.

I hope you will accept my lease extension request and resolve the mentioned problems as soon as possible.

Yours sincerely,

Nishu Agrawal

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The response successfully covers all three bullet points required in the task instructions. You clearly stated how long you wish to extend the lease ('extend my lease agreement for 1.5 year'), explained the reason for the change in plans due to a construction delay on your own apartment, and informed the owner about the specific problems regarding the heating in the main hall and the leaking kitchen sink. The tone is appropriately formal and polite for a letter to a landlord. All parts of the prompt are addressed adequately, and the ideas are relevant, though a bit more expansion could enhance the depth. Overall, the task is fulfilled satisfactorily, earning a solid Band 6.5.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The letter maintains a clear overall logical arrangement. It begins with a standard polite opening, moves sequentially through the purpose of the letter, the reasons for changing plans, the maintenance issues, and closes with a courteous wrap-up. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate distinct ideas, such as the lease extension details versus the apartment problems. Cohesive devices like 'however' and 'as a result' are used to connect thoughts, although referencing and linking can occasionally feel a bit mechanical. For instance, 'Above on that' is an unnatural transition. Despite this minor cohesion flaw, the progression of ideas is easy to follow, making this a clear Band 6.5 performance.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully using terms like 'extend my lease agreement', 'construction', and 'maintenance'. However, there are noticeable word choice and collocation inaccuracies throughout the text, such as writing 'longer time' instead of 'a longer period', 'due to delay in construction and unexpected certainity' (where 'certainty' is used incorrectly to mean uncertainty), and 'Above on that' instead of 'Furthermore' or 'In addition'. Spelling is generally good, but these lexical errors and awkward collocations place your vocabulary performance firmly at Band 6.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The letter includes a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating some variety in your grammatical structures. However, there are several noticeable grammatical errors that detract from accuracy. For example, you wrote 'I supposed to stay here' instead of 'I was supposed to stay here', and 'I was supposing to move' instead of 'I was planning to move'. Additionally, 'a heating problem in the main hall as I could not get proper heating' contains repetitive and imprecise wording. While these errors do not impede overall communication, their frequency prevents the grammar score from reaching a higher band, resulting in a fair Band 6.0.

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

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