Band 7.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 7.0 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-10-10

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 7.0)

Dear Mr. Smith,

I am writing to ask whether it would be possible to extend my current rental agreement, which is due to end next month.

Initially, I agreed to rent the apartment for six months. However, I would now like to stay for an additional six months, as I wish to rent the apartment for a total of twelve months.

The reason is that my company has extended my work contract by six months. And this apartment is closer to my workplace and it is convenient for me to travel between home and office. This place is also near metro station which can connect me to different cities. Therefore moving to another place will be inconvenient for me as it is both time consuming and costly.

However, I would also like to bring an issue regarding the apartment. There is a water leakage going on in my bathroom for past two weeks. Water is dripping through the ceiling. Also the ceiling lights are not working properly. They are flickering from time to time which bothers me sometime. I would really appreciate if you could arrange a plumber and a electrician to solve the issue as soon as possible.

I hope you will consider my request and extend the rental agreement .

Thank you for your time and consideration . I look forward to hearing from you .

Yours sincerely,

Nikhil Bhoi

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 8.0

The letter covers all three required points clearly: you request an extension, specify that you want to stay for six more months (twelve months in total), explain the change through your company’s contract extension, and describe the bathroom leak and faulty lights. The reasons for staying are relevant and supported with practical details about commuting and moving costs, while the repair request is polite and specific. The purpose and tone remain clear throughout, and the closing appropriately invites a response. To make the explanation even more fully developed, you could clarify whether the requested six-month extension would begin immediately after the current agreement ends. Overall, the content is well developed and directly addresses the owner’s needs as well as your own.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 7.0

The letter has a clear progression: it opens with the request, explains the proposed rental period and changed circumstances, raises the maintenance problems, and ends with a courteous conclusion. Paragraphing helps distinguish these functions, and linking expressions such as “However,” “Therefore,” and “Also” make relationships between ideas easy to follow. Some connections are slightly mechanical or could be smoother: beginning a sentence with “And” after the work-contract explanation interrupts the flow, and “Also” introduces the lighting issue without showing as clearly how it relates to the leak. You could combine or vary these transitions and use a clearer reference, such as “In addition, the bathroom ceiling lights…” Overall, the organisation is logical and the reader can follow the message easily.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range of vocabulary for a formal rental letter, including “extend my current rental agreement,” “work contract,” “water leakage,” and “flickering.” These choices communicate the situation clearly, and the tone is generally appropriate. Some expressions are less natural or precise, such as “near metro station,” “connect me to different cities,” and “bring an issue regarding the apartment.” “Water leakage going on” is also an awkward collocation. More idiomatic phrasing would make the letter sound more fluent and professional, for example, “near a metro station,” “provides connections to other parts of the city,” and “report a maintenance issue.” The vocabulary is sufficient to explain your needs, but more accurate collocations and a little more variety would strengthen it.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.5

The letter includes a useful mix of simple and complex structures, including the relative clause in “which is due to end next month” and the reason clause beginning “as I wish to rent…”. Most sentences communicate the intended meaning, and the request is easy to understand. Some grammatical errors remain: “And this apartment…” is an incomplete sentence in this context; “for past two weeks” needs an article (“for the past two weeks”); and “a electrician” should be “an electrician.” There are also punctuation and sentence-boundary issues, including the extra full stop before “And” and spaces before full stops in the closing. The range is developing, but checking articles, sentence connections, and punctuation would improve accuracy and control.

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

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