Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-09-14

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 hope you are doing great. I am writing to inform you that I am willing to help you in your house to setup a new garden. I saw your advertisement you have posted last week about garden setup and to plant new flowers and vegetables and I am so excited to join you.

I could help you in many ways as I am living nearby, it is really easy to come to your place. I also have a significant knowledge of various plants as I have studied botany basics. It would be easy to put together the practical and theoretical skills.

I would love to work at your place because gardening is my hobby and last month I set up my own garden and if you will see it you will be mesmerised with the setting arrangement. I lost my grandmother last year and she was same as of your age. I want to spend time with you in her rememberance while working at your place.

I would be available on the weekdays from 9.00 am till 4 pm and unfortunately unavailable at weekends due to my personal reasons.

I will be waiting for your response.

Yours sincerely,

Harpreet

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

You successfully cover all three bullet points required in the task instructions. You suggest how you could help by mentioning that you want to assist in setting up a new garden and planting flowers and vegetables. You explain why you would like to do the work by stating that gardening is your hobby and that you want to spend time with her in remembrance of your late grandmother. Finally, you clearly state when you will be available, noting weekdays from 9:00 am till 4:00 pm, and when you will not be available, explaining your unavailability on weekends. The tone is appropriate for a polite letter, and the purpose is communicated effectively throughout, meeting the requirements well for a Band 6.5 or 7.0 range. Because all parts of the prompt are addressed with relevant supporting details, a Band 7.0 is well earned.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

Your letter has a clear logical organization, moving smoothly from your opening purpose to specific ways you can help, your personal reasons for applying, and finally your availability. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate each main point, which helps guide the reader through the text. You make use of basic cohesive devices such as 'I also', 'I would love', and 'I would be available', though some transitional links are slightly repetitive or mechanical. Referencing is generally clear, and the overall progression of ideas flows naturally from beginning to end. To achieve a higher band score, you could incorporate more sophisticated cohesive phrases and vary your sentence transitions more flexibly.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for this task, successfully using terms related to the topic such as 'advertisement', 'botany', 'practical', 'theoretical', and 'mesmerised'. However, there are some word choice and collocation inaccuracies, such as saying 'setup a new garden' (where 'set up' should be two words as a verb or 'setting up') and 'in her rememberance' (spelled 'remembrance'). Phrases like 'she was same as of your age' are unnatural and imprecise. While your vocabulary is sufficient to convey your meaning clearly, these occasional errors and limitations in less common lexical items prevent you from reaching a higher band. Focusing on more natural collocations will enhance your writing.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

You attempt a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as using conditional clauses ('if you will see it you will be mesmerised') and subordinate clauses. However, there are several grammatical errors and punctuation issues throughout the text. For example, 'the advertisement you have posted last week' would be better in the past simple ('posted last week'), and 'she was same as of your age' contains grammatical awkwardness. Furthermore, the conditional sentence 'if you will see it you will be mesmerised' incorrectly uses the future tense in the 'if' clause. Although these errors do not severely impede communication, their frequency means that error-free sentences are not in the majority, which places your grammar score comfortably at Band 6.0.

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

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