Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-10-24

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 Edward,

I hope you are doing well.

I am Pooja who is renting your apartment. I am writting this letter to discuss with you about lease agreement. you have given me your middlebrook property on rent 5 months ago in April with 6 months lease contract which is going to expire in the following month september.

My plan has changed. Now, i am thinking to extend this contract for 1 year because it is located near by my workplace and it is neat and spacious apartment. Moreover, it is also easy for me to go college from here as i have to take just one bus to get college as well as work. There is a plaza front of it where is a indian grocery store, which make it my top priority.

I tried to find such accomdation on Kijiji and marketplace but hard to find. Consequently, i plan to extend current agreement. I hope you would be agree in it.

I will be glad to hear a positive revert from you.

best regards

Pooja

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.0

You make your main request clear: you want to extend the rental for one year, and you give relevant reasons, including the apartment’s location and its convenience for work and college. However, the task also asks you to tell the owner about a problem in the apartment, and no problem is mentioned. This omission means the letter responds only minimally to the full task, despite the useful explanation for your changed plans. The request could also be stated more directly and developed with a clear proposed end date. To improve, cover every bullet point explicitly, including a specific repair or maintenance issue, and make the requested extension and its duration unmistakable.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The letter has a recognisable sequence: an opening, an explanation of why you want to stay, and a closing request. The reasons are grouped together, and linking expressions such as “Moreover” and “Consequently” help show how the ideas relate. However, the long middle paragraph combines several points, while the missing apartment problem leaves the message incomplete. Some connections are awkward or unclear, as in “There is a plaza front of it where is a indian grocery store,” and the transition from searching online to asking for an extension could be smoother. Use separate paragraphs for the request, reasons, and apartment issue, and make each sentence’s relationship to the main request clear.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use enough vocabulary to communicate the main reasons for staying, including “neat and spacious,” “workplace,” and “extend this contract.” There are also attempts at more specific language, such as “lease agreement” and “accommodation.” However, several spelling and word-choice problems reduce precision: “writting,” “accomdation,” and “positive revert” are not appropriate forms or expressions in this context. Phrases such as “on rent” and “top priority” also sound unnatural for a formal letter to a landlord. Aim for accurate, conventional collocations and check spelling carefully. A wider range of precise rental and maintenance vocabulary would help you explain both the extension and the apartment problem more effectively.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and more complex sentences, for example, explaining that the apartment is near work and that one bus connects you to college. The main message is generally understandable, but errors in sentence boundaries, verb forms, agreement, articles, and prepositions occur throughout. Examples include “you have given me your… property… 5 months ago,” “I hope you would be agree,” and “where is a indian grocery store.” Capitalisation and punctuation are also inconsistent, particularly the lowercase “you,” “i,” and “best regards.” Practise forming accurate past-time statements and polite requests, and check subject–verb agreement and sentence boundaries. More reliable control of these patterns would make the letter easier to read.

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

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