Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-09-22

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 James,

I am writing to request for an extension of my stay at the apartment, our previous agreement was for a duration of six months. But due to recent developments at my place of work, an additional six months has become necessary.

My work contract with the company I work with has been renewed. The initial duration was for a period of six months after which I was to return to my state. We had a major setback with timelines due to the flood that affected the entire city and the office complex was majorly affected.

In addition, I would like to bring to your notice a fault with the heatig system of the house, kindly get this fixed as winter is fast approaching and heat is essential for the weather. I can sugget we share the financial responsibilty if it will be too burdensome to you.

Thank your consideration as I await your prompt response regarding the possibility of a new contract.

Best regards

Izere Aigbavboa

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

You have successfully covered all three bullet points required in the prompt. First, you clearly stated how long you wish to extend your rent for by mentioning 'an additional six months has become necessary'. Second, you explained that your plans changed due to developments at your workplace, specifically noting that your 'work contract... has been renewed' following delays caused by flooding in the city. Finally, you successfully highlighted a problem in the apartment by telling the owner about the 'fault with the heating system' and noting that 'winter is fast approaching'. All parts of the task are well addressed with appropriate tone and clear purpose, meeting the Band 7 level descriptors successfully.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

Your letter has a clear overall progression and logical organisation throughout. You begin with an appropriate salutation and opening statement of purpose, followed by body paragraphs dedicated to your reasons and the property maintenance issue. Cohesive devices such as 'In addition' and 'But due to' are used effectively to connect your ideas. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate distinct points, although your second paragraph could have been split to further enhance readability. Nevertheless, the progression of ideas is easy to follow, making this a solid performance that fits the Band 7 criteria.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate a sufficient range of vocabulary to allow for some flexibility and precision, using phrases like 'recent developments', 'major setback', and 'prompt response'. You attempt some less common items such as 'financial responsibility' and 'extension of my stay'. However, there are a few noticeable spelling and word choice errors, such as 'heatig' instead of 'heating' and 'sugget' instead of 'suggest'. Additionally, writing 'Thank your consideration' contains a minor grammatical omission ('Thank you for your consideration'). These lexical slips and minor inaccuracies prevent the score from reaching a higher band, placing your writing comfortably at Band 6.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence forms effectively, such as conditional and relative clauses ('if it will be too burdensome to you' and 'the company I work with'). There are several error-free sentences, and your punctuation is generally sound. However, you make a comma splice in your first paragraph ('...duration of six months. But due to...'), and there are occasional errors with prepositions and spelling. These errors do not impede communication, but they persist throughout the response, which aligns your grammatical accuracy and range with the Band 6 descriptors.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.