Band 7.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

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

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 Sir,

How are you doing? I really appreciate the kind gesture showed towards me the last time we met. I am writing to notify you that I intend to extend my tenancy agreement, since the previous contract will elapse next month because it was for six months. Now I want to pay for additional 1 year.

I know you might be wondering why I changed my plans of renting the apartment from six months to 1 year, I would say its because I have decided to stay longer in Fortuneland to complete my Post graduate degree, since I just finished my first degree and the house is closer to the train station, this will give me access to get to school earlier than trying to rent somwhere else.

However, I would like to make a complain about the water heater in my bathroom, it has been leaking for 2 months now and the water has seeped through my living room wall, once you enter my apartment the first thing you will see is the dent and stain it has caused to my wall painting.

I look forward to your response and have a great day ahead.

Yours sincerely

Fortune Luck

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.0

You address all three requested points clearly. The intended extension is specific (“additional 1 year”), the reason is explained through your postgraduate studies and the apartment’s proximity to the train station, and the water-heater leak is described with its effect on the living-room wall. These details make the letter relevant and give the owner a clear picture of your request. To strengthen the response further, make the requested action more explicit—for example, ask whether the owner would agree to a one-year extension—and indicate what you would like done about the leak. The explanation of your changed plans is useful, though it could be expressed more directly and with slightly less repetition.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 7.0

The letter has a clear progression: you introduce the tenancy extension, explain the change in your plans, report the apartment problem, and close politely. The paragraphing supports this sequence, and linking expressions such as “since,” “However,” and “I look forward to your response” help connect the ideas. The main point is easy to follow throughout. Some transitions could be smoother: the long sentence beginning “I know you might be wondering” combines the reason for staying with the apartment’s location and its benefit for commuting. Dividing this into shorter sentences would make the relationship between these points clearer. The opening small-talk question is also less directly connected to the purpose of the letter.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.5

You use a sufficient range of vocabulary for the situation, including relevant terms such as “tenancy agreement,” “extend,” “leaking,” and “seeped through.” These choices communicate the request and the damage effectively. There are also some imprecise or unnatural expressions that limit flexibility and precision: “kind gesture showed towards me” is awkward, “pay for additional 1 year” is not the most natural way to describe extending a tenancy, and “make a complain” uses the wrong form. “Somwhere” is also misspelled. Aim for more natural collocations and accurate word forms, particularly in formal correspondence; this would make the letter sound more fluent and appropriately professional.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.5

You attempt a mix of simple and complex structures, including clauses with “since” and “because,” and the meaning remains clear. Some sentence forms are controlled, such as “I am writing to notify you that I intend to extend my tenancy agreement.” However, several errors show that grammatical accuracy is not yet consistent. In “the kind gesture showed towards me,” the participle construction is incomplete; “I know you might be wondering why I changed my plans …, I would say” joins two independent clauses with a comma; and “its because” needs the contraction “it’s.” The sentence about your studies and the train station is also overloaded. Use full stops to separate ideas and check apostrophes and clause boundaries.

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

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