Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS General Essentials · 2026-09-22
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 neighbours,
I hope you are doing well, I am writing this letter to you because I am facing issues of loud music from your appartment and I have my examinations strating from next week so its affecting my studies and sleep. Last night, when I am in my bedroom focusing on my studies I hear loud music from your appartment and I am unable to focus on my sleep and studies because of music. And, I have ongoing classes in the morning as well, so I have to woke up early and leave for the university, so I would like to request you that please make the volume of music in night slow, so I could focus on my studies and get good grades. In the end, I would like to arrange a meeting or a gathering to discuss on this topic and look forward for your response.
Warm reagards,
Rakshit
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 6.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0
The response successfully covers all three bullet points required by the task instructions. You clearly explain the problem by stating "I am facing issues of loud music from your appartment," describe the difficulties it causes by mentioning "I have my examinations strating from next week so its affecting my studies and sleep," and specify the action you want them to take with the request to "please make the volume of music in night slow." The tone is generally appropriate for a semi-formal letter to a neighbour, and the purpose is clear throughout the text. All aspects of the prompt are addressed adequately, placing this response securely at Band 6.0.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0
The letter lacks proper paragraphing, as it is written almost as a single continuous block of text apart from the salutation and sign-off. This limits the overall cohesion and progression. While basic cohesive devices and conjunctions like "because," "and," and "so" are used to connect ideas, they are often overused in long, run-on sentences, such as the sentence starting with "Last night, when I am in my bedroom...". The referencing is generally understandable, but the lack of clear paragraph breaks to separate the problem, the impacts, and the proposed actions prevents the response from achieving a higher band in this category.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The vocabulary used is adequate to communicate the message, featuring everyday phrases such as "good grades," "ongoing classes," and "arrange a meeting." However, the range is limited and repetitive, with frequent spelling errors including "appartment," "strating," "woke up," and "reagards." Attempts to use less common lexical items are minimal, and word choices occasionally drift into unnatural collocations, such as asking to "make the volume of music in night slow" instead of turning down the volume. These errors do not completely impede communication, but they restrict the lexical score to a Band 5.5.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The writing demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, though complex structures are often prone to errors. There are notable tense inconsistencies, such as shifting between past and present incorrectly in "when I am in my bedroom... I hear loud music." Other grammatical errors include "have to woke up" instead of "wake up" and comma splices connecting multiple independent clauses without proper punctuation. While the meaning remains mostly clear to the reader, the frequency of basic grammatical slips and punctuation issues keeps the grammatical accuracy at a Band 5.0 level.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.