Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS General Essentials · 2026-08-20

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

New neighbours have recently moved into the house/flat next door to where you live. You have examinations soon, but your neighbours play music late at night which is affecting your studies and sleep.

• explain what the problem is
• why it is causing you difficulties
• what action you would like them to take

Student answer (Band 5.5)

Dear Sir or Madam,

I am writing to express my dissatisfaction with loud music which disturbs me.

I experience several problems. You listened the music till the late night. It happens regularly. I heard loud music inside my home which come from your house.

Unfortunately, it affects me a lot. I have my exams in upcoming week so i have to do prepartion. Every night, i tried to sleep early but your high volume music distract me. Which cause it impact on my sleep and i get up late in the morning. As a result, i go to school late and trying to sleep during the lecture.

I would appreciate it if you make a schedule for specific for playing music. Please do not play music in high volume after 8 o' Clock. However, i have to take action and pass the complain to the owner of the house.

I hope you would consider my problems . I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours faithfully,

Tejwant

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response addresses all three bullet points of the prompt: explaining the problem, describing the impact on your studies, and suggesting a solution. However, the tone is inconsistent. While you are writing to a neighbour, the opening 'Dear Sir or Madam' is formal and typically used for unknown recipients, whereas 'Yours faithfully' is also formal. A more appropriate opening for a neighbour would be 'Dear Neighbour' or 'Dear [Name]'. Additionally, the threat to 'pass the complain to the owner' is quite aggressive for a first contact, which slightly affects the appropriateness of the tone for the task.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The letter is organised into logical paragraphs, which helps the reader follow your points. However, the use of cohesive devices is somewhat mechanical and occasionally inaccurate. For example, 'Which cause it impact on my sleep' is grammatically awkward and fails to link the ideas smoothly. The transition between the problem and the proposed solution is clear, but the flow within paragraphs could be improved by using a wider variety of linking words (e.g., 'consequently', 'furthermore', 'therefore') rather than relying on simple sentence structures.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, allowing you to convey your message clearly. You use some relevant terms like 'distract', 'schedule', and 'preparation'. However, there are instances of imprecise word choice and collocation errors, such as 'You listened the music' (should be 'You play music') and 'pass the complain' (should be 'make a complaint'). To reach a higher band, you should focus on using more natural collocations and avoiding repetitive phrasing.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

There are frequent grammatical errors throughout the text, particularly with verb tenses and subject-verb agreement. For instance, 'You listened the music' uses the past tense incorrectly for a recurring habit, and 'i have to do prepartion' contains a spelling error and missing article. Additionally, 'i get up late' and 'i go to school' should be capitalized. While the meaning is generally clear, the high frequency of errors in basic sentence structures limits the score. You should focus on proofreading for tense consistency and basic punctuation.

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

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