Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-09-29

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 5.0)

Dear owner,

i am writing about the satisfaction of apartment where i contracted six months for lived there but now i want to stay there untill more five months because of the avilable modern facilities there. While i had planned to transform my work at surrey centre but now i familiar with my current locations so i has make a plan to stay there continuoisly. Honestly, bus service is quite near so i can easily goes for my work as a result, it assists me to save my precious time. In contrast, i faced a problem to operate kitchen equipment because of the old infrastructure. so, i request to the owner to replace it with new features. Therefore, i enjoy quality of time there.

I hope you will replace it as soon as possible and please let me know about the further steps how i can extend my contract there for living four more months.

Yours faithfully,

Gagan

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The candidate successfully covers all three bullet points required by the task prompt. First, you state how long you want to rent the apartment for, mentioning an extension of 'five months' (and later mentioning four more months, which shows a slight inconsistency in the exact duration, but the intention is clear). Second, you explain why your plans have changed, citing the availability of modern facilities and familiarity with the current location. Third, you inform the owner about a problem with the kitchen equipment due to old infrastructure. The tone is mostly appropriate for a semi-formal request to a landlord, though the opening greeting 'Dear owner,' is rather unnatural and should ideally use a name or 'Dear Landlord'. Overall, the task requirements are addressed adequately, earning a solid Band 5.5.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The letter exhibits a basic level of organization, with ideas grouped into paragraph blocks. However, the overall progression is disjointed in places. Cohesive devices are used, but sometimes inaccurately or mechanically, such as 'In contrast,' which is misused when introducing the kitchen problem rather than presenting a contrasting idea. Additionally, referencing is occasionally unclear, such as the pronoun 'there' being overused in close proximity without precise antecedents. Paragraphing is present, but the division and flow between sentences lack smoothness. This places the response firmly at Band 5.0 for coherence and cohesion.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is relatively limited and repetitive, with basic phrasing dominating the text. Examples include 'modern facilities,' 'precious time,' and 'quality of time.' There are noticeable word choice errors and awkward collocations, such as 'contracted six months for lived there,' 'transform my work,' and 'familiar with my current locations.' Furthermore, there is a spelling error with 'untill' and 'avilable.' While the vocabulary is minimally adequate to convey the basic message, these frequent lexical inaccuracies restrict the score to Band 5.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response features a very limited range of grammatical structures, and attempts at complex or longer sentences frequently result in errors. Examples of grammatical inaccuracies include 'i has make a plan,' 'easily goes for my work,' and 'i request to the owner to replace it.' Punctuation is also weak, with missing capitalizations at the beginning of sentences and improper comma splices. Errors are frequent and often cause some difficulty for the reader in parsing the exact meaning, which corresponds closely to the Band 5 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.