Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS General Essentials · 2026-09-15
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 neighbour,
I hope you are doing well. I am writing this letter to tell you about my dissatisfaction with your music. Which you play till late night. It's very bother me because i am prepering for my college entrance. This exam is really important for me because my future is depend on that. Moreover i am studying 16 hours a day. But you play music late at night in high volume it's afffecting my study because of that i can fouse on my study. I don't want to waste my time during my crucial time of study. I am requesting you to play music in low voulme other wise i need to complain to our community group. As you know during night you can't play music in high voulme it is illegal.
I would be greatful if you could concider my request.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The response covers all three bullet points required by the prompt: it explains the problem (music playing late at night), why it is causing difficulties (preparing for a college entrance exam, studying 16 hours a day), and what action the writer would like them to take (play music at a lower volume or risk a complaint). The tone is appropriate for a semi-formal letter to a neighbour. However, the response falls short of the 150-word minimum requirement, containing only 143 words. This under-length impacts task achievement negatively, preventing the score from reaching Band 6.0.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0
The letter maintains a clear overall progression, opening with a polite greeting, stating the purpose, elaborating on the consequences, and concluding with a request and a sign-off. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'Moreover' and 'As you know', though some referencing is a bit faulty, such as starting a sentence with a relative pronoun fragment ('Which you play till late night.'). Paragraphing is partially utilized, but the letter is essentially squeezed into one main body block before a short closing line. Logical flow is generally maintained despite minor mechanical errors.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, attempting some less common collocations like 'college entrance' and 'crucial time of study'. However, there are notable word choice and spelling errors throughout the text, such as 'bother' instead of 'bothers', 'prepering' instead of 'preparing', 'voulme' instead of 'volume', and 'concider' instead of 'consider'. While these errors do not completely impede communication, they restrict the lexical score to a Band 5.5.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as conditional and causal clauses ('As you know during night you can't play music in high voulme it is illegal'). However, there are frequent grammatical errors and punctuation flaws, including sentence fragments ('Which you play till late night.'), comma splices, and incorrect verb tenses ('my future is depend on that', 'i can fouse on my study'). These errors create noticeable difficulty for the reader at times.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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