Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-10-04

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 Mr Singh,

I hope this letter finds you well, I am writing this letter to request you to extend my rent agreement as it will end soon. I really like your place in these 5 months, it felt like home to me.

I want to know if it is possible for you to renew the agreement for another 6 months. I am willing to pay for any paper-work that is required. I came here for studies and it was initially decided that I will move back to my home town once I’ll finish it. However, the academy asked me to join 5 months of mandatory internship to get my results. I am sorry to inform you late, but I really don’t want to waste my time in searching new apartments.

I like your apartment, everything around the apartment is so good. The neighbourhoods are genuinely great, specially the Austin family, they ask me to join them in functions. The only thing, I would like to highlight is the broken glass of window. It will be helpful if you fix it. There’s a huge hole in the window which allows birds and insects inside the room.

I am looking forward for your response.

Kind regards,

Owais Ansari

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.5

Your letter successfully addresses all parts of the task, showing a clear purpose throughout. You clearly state how long you want to rent the apartment for by asking to renew the agreement for another six months. Furthermore, you explain why your plans have changed by mentioning your academy's mandatory five-month internship requirement, and you successfully inform the owner about a problem by highlighting the broken window glass and the resulting issue with insects. All bullet points are well covered, and the tone is appropriately polite and conversational for a general letter to a landlord. To move up to the next band level, your ideas could be extended with slightly more elaboration, particularly regarding the apartment problem and how it impacts your daily living, ensuring that every point is fully developed without any trace of over-generalisation.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 7.0

Your letter demonstrates a clear logical organisation and progression throughout. You make effective use of paragraphing, separating your introduction, your request and explanation, your comments on the apartment and the repair issue, and your closing sign-off into distinct, appropriate blocks. You use cohesive devices and referencing well to guide the reader through your letter, such as 'However, the academy asked me' and 'The only thing, I would like to highlight'. To achieve a higher band, you could ensure that cohesive devices are used even more flexibly and subtly across sentences, avoiding slightly mechanical transitions and ensuring seamless logical links between every single idea.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use a sufficient range of vocabulary for the task, allowing you to communicate your message clearly and effectively. You attempt some less common items and phrases, such as 'mandatory internship', 'renew the agreement', and 'paper-work'. However, there are some noticeable vocabulary and spelling errors, such as 'in searching new apartments' instead of 'searching for', and referencing the 'neighbourhoods' when you likely mean the neighbours. There are also occasional awkward phrasings or word choices that prevent you from reaching a higher band. To improve your lexical score, focus on precise collocations and prepositional use associated with verbs and nouns, and expand your repertoire of less common vocabulary while maintaining strict accuracy in word formation.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

Your response contains a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating an adequate control of sentence structures. You successfully use clauses and varied constructions, such as 'I want to know if it is possible for you to renew the agreement' and 'It will be helpful if you fix it.' However, there are some errors in grammar and punctuation present throughout the text, including a comma splice in the opening sentence ('well, I am writing'), unnecessary capitalization ('specially'), and minor tense slips like 'once I'll finish it' instead of 'once I finish it'. These errors persist but rarely impede communication. To reach a higher band, you need to produce more frequent error-free sentences and demonstrate tighter control over punctuation and complex clause structures.

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.