Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-17

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

You rent a flat from an accommodation agency. Your neighbour who rents their flat from the same agency plays very loud video games late at night.

Write a letter to the accommodation agency. In your letter

• explain when the problem began

• describe how the noise affects you

• say what you would like the agency to do

You do NOT need to write any addresses.

Begin your letter as follows:

Dear Sir or Madam,

Student answer (Band 5.5)

Dear Sir,

I am writing this letter due to an issue with my neighbour regarding the increased noise from video games at night, which causes a lot of disturbance for us.

The problem began last week when they played video games all night. I work in an office in the morning, and I was unable to sleep at night, woke up late in the morning, and did not reach the office on time, due to which I could not complete my tasks on time and our company target was not achieved, and our boss got angry with me.

The noise from video games affected me and my all family member every night. We got disturbed by the loud noise, and my children also disturbed. So I request the agency to take serious action against them and teach them a lesson, so they cannot disturb anyone in the future.

I am very thankful to you if you solve this issue with no limit of time.

Yours thankfully,

Waqas

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The letter addresses all three required points: it says the problem began “last week,” explains that lost sleep affects your work and family, and asks the agency to intervene. The consequences at work make the impact clear, although the long chain of events about missed tasks and the company target is more detailed than necessary. The request for action is relevant, but “teach them a lesson” sounds confrontational and does not specify a practical outcome, such as asking the neighbour to lower the volume or observing quiet hours. The opening also uses “Dear Sir” rather than the requested “Dear Sir or Madam.” Develop the agency’s requested action more clearly and keep the tone appropriately formal.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The message has a coherent overall arrangement: it introduces the complaint, explains when it started and its effects, then makes a request and closes. Paragraphing helps the reader follow these stages. However, some connections are mechanical or unclear. In the second paragraph, repeated “and” links several consequences into one long sentence, while “due to which” makes the relationship between the missed work and the company target cumbersome. The third paragraph repeats the idea of disturbance without adding much progression. Use shorter sentences to separate the effects, and connect each paragraph’s ideas more precisely. The closing is recognisable, though a more conventional sign-off would make the letter feel more complete.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The vocabulary is sufficient to communicate the complaint, with relevant terms such as “increased noise,” “disturbance,” and “take serious action.” However, the range is limited and several expressions are unnatural or imprecise, which keeps the message from sounding consistently fluent. For example, “my all family member” and “my children also disturbed” do not express the intended meaning naturally, while “teach them a lesson” is too informal and confrontational for a letter to an agency. “I am very thankful to you if you solve this issue with no limit of time” is also unclear. Choose precise, conventional complaint-letter phrases and vary repeated references to noise and disturbance.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, including the explanation of how poor sleep affected your work. The main message remains understandable, but some grammatical errors occur in agreement, sentence construction, and clause linking. For instance, “my all family member” has incorrect number and word order, and “my children also disturbed” is missing a suitable verb form. The sentence beginning “I work in an office” then strings together several events, making its structure difficult to control. The final sentence, “I am very thankful to you if you solve this issue,” also uses an awkward conditional construction. Separate the sequence of effects into complete sentences and check subject–verb agreement and verb forms.

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