Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 13 · 2026-09-30

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

You work for an international company, and would like to spend six months working in its head office in another country. Write a letter to your manager. In your letter

• explain why you want to work in the company's head office for six months
• say how your work could be done while you are away
• ask for his/her help in arranging it

You do NOT need to write any addresses.

Begin your letter as follows:

Dear ................. ,

Student answer (Band 5.0)

Dear Sir or Madam,

I am writing to formally file a complaint against the tenants living on the seventh floor next to my apartment 1008.

I have been living in this building for the last two years, and it has been a great experience so far. Unfortunately, the living situation has been very disappointing; the neighbours who have moved next to my apartment are causing a great deal of distress and an unpleasant experience by playing loud music, blocking the elevators during odd hours, and even though I have flagged my concerns to them, there has been no positive response.

I, therefore, would like you to intervene and resolve this matter by strongly raising our concerns about such nuisance. Furthermore,

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 2.5

The response is largely off-topic. The prompt clearly requires you to write a letter to your manager asking to spend six months working in the company head office abroad, explaining your reasons, covering how your work would be done while away, and asking for help. However, the student wrote a complaint letter to a landlord or building management about noisy tenants on the seventh floor. Furthermore, the length requirement was not met, as the text contains only 120 words, falling short of the 150-word minimum. The response also trails off abruptly with an incomplete sentence at the end.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.0

The response shows some basic organization with a standard salutation and an opening paragraph stating the purpose of the letter. However, information and ideas are not arranged coherently overall because the content is misaligned with the prompt requirements, and the text ends abruptly without a conclusion. Paragraphing is attempted, but the sudden cutoff prevents a logical progression throughout the response.

Lexical Resource: Band 7.0

The student demonstrates a sufficient range of vocabulary with good precision. Phrases like 'formally file a complaint', 'causing a great deal of distress', and 'flagged my concerns' show a strong ability to use appropriate vocabulary for formal correspondence. While the task context is incorrect, the actual choice of words within the written text is natural and demonstrates a high level of lexical control.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 7.0

The writing exhibits a good variety of complex structures and frequent error-free sentences. The student successfully uses multi-clause sentences, such as 'Unfortunately, the living situation has been very disappointing; the neighbours who have moved next to my apartment are causing...', demonstrating good control of grammar and punctuation, though the sentence structure is cut short at the very end of the text.

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

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