Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-09-08

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

Mrs Barrett, an English-speaking woman who lives in your town, has advertised for someone to help her in her home for a few hours a day next summer.

Write a letter to Mrs Barrett. In your letter

• suggest how you could help her in her home
• say why you would like to do this work
• explain when you will and will not be available

You do NOT need to write any addresses.

Begin your letter as follows:

Dear Mrs Barrett,

Student answer (Band 6.5)

Dear Mrs. Barrett,

I am writing to respond back on the advertisement you published for a person to assist with your lawn and garden maintenance. I am a professional gardener with 2 years of experience in a nursery and can assist you with right guidance to nourish plants while renovating you lawn for a more appealing look.

Currently I am enrolled as a full-time student so I don't have enough time for part time work, however next summer I have 3 months break giving me enough time to do a part time job. Since, I saw the advertisement without thinking I applied as plants interests me a lot and curiosity to help and share my knowledge of flora with someone to maintain their garden.

Unfortunately, I will not be available during weekdays due to my shifts in nursery, but weekends will be my full availability to work with you in lawn.

Please let me know what you think, I am looking forward to hear from you soon.

Yours truly,

John Hildy

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

You have addressed all three bullet points required by the prompt. You clearly explained how you could help (gardening/lawn maintenance), why you are interested (passion for flora), and your availability (weekends only). The tone is appropriate for a formal letter. However, the development of your ideas is somewhat limited. For instance, while you mention your experience, providing a specific example of a task you have performed would have strengthened your application. Additionally, you misinterpreted the prompt slightly by assuming the advertisement was specifically for gardening, whereas the prompt stated 'help her in her home', which is broader. Despite this, the task requirements are met.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The letter is logically organized into clear paragraphs, each focusing on a specific requirement of the task. You use basic cohesive devices such as 'however', 'since', and 'unfortunately' to link your ideas. While the flow is generally smooth, some transitions feel a bit mechanical. For example, the sentence 'Since, I saw the advertisement without thinking I applied' is slightly awkward and lacks a clear connection to the previous thought. The use of paragraphing is appropriate, and the overall structure follows the standard conventions for a formal letter, which helps the reader follow your message easily.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'maintenance', 'nourish', 'renovating', and 'flora'. There are some minor inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'respond back on' (should be 'respond to') and 'right guidance' (should be 'proper guidance'). You also use 'in lawn' instead of 'in the lawn'. While these errors do not impede communication, they prevent the vocabulary from reaching a higher band. To improve, focus on using more precise collocations and ensuring that prepositions are used correctly in context.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are several grammatical errors, such as 'plants interests me' (subject-verb agreement), 'curiosity to help' (fragmented sentence), and 'looking forward to hear' (should be 'looking forward to hearing'). Punctuation is generally acceptable, but there are some missing articles (e.g., 'in nursery' instead of 'in a nursery'). While these errors are noticeable, they do not cause significant difficulty for the reader. To achieve a higher score, you should aim for more error-free sentences and pay closer attention to verb forms and article usage.

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

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