Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-11-06

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

You have bought some clothing online and are not satisfied with your purchase.

Write a letter to the company that you bought the clothing from. In your email:

• give details of the purchase
• describe the problem
• explain why you need a replacement urgently

You do NOT need to write any addresses.

Begin your letter as follows:

Dear Sir or Madam,

Student answer (Band 5.5)

Assalam-o-Alikum. Hope you are well and spending good days. Dear sir yesterday I bought a silk suit from your campony by e mail. The suit was looking so beautiful on your website and i ordered it. But i received it, i noticed a problem. I opened it and looked at very carefully. I found a cut that was on the front of the shirt.

This dress is very beautiful but this fault is not acceptable. So, I decided to replace this suit. actually I bought this suit for the marrige ceremoney of my elder brother which will held tomorrow. I have no time decided to another dress are visit to market for purchasing new dress.

So will have to exchange it as soon as possible. It will be humble request.It will great favour for me. I will be very gratefull to you for act of kindness. Thank you so much

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You cover the main points: you identify the silk suit bought online, report a cut on the front of the shirt, and explain that it is needed for your brother’s wedding tomorrow. These details make the complaint relevant and the urgency understandable. However, the purchase details are limited, and the requested action is not fully clear: “replace this suit” and “exchange it” suggest a replacement, but you do not specify how the company should arrange this or ask for confirmation. The opening also does not follow the required “Dear Sir or Madam,” and the closing is incomplete for a formal letter. Develop the request more explicitly and use a consistent formal tone throughout.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a basic sequence: purchase, discovery of the defect, reason for urgency, and a request for an exchange. Paragraph breaks help separate these stages. However, progression is sometimes difficult to follow because ideas are joined mechanically or expressed unclearly, as in “I have no time decided to another dress are visit to market.” The transition from “This dress is very beautiful” to the complaint also repeats an idea without advancing the request. Some linking words, such as “So,” are used, but connections between sentences are not consistently clear. Organise the letter into a clear opening, a concise description of the problem, the urgent reason, and a direct closing request; use references such as “the suit” consistently.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use enough topic-related vocabulary to communicate the basic situation, including “silk suit,” “website,” “cut,” “replace,” and “wedding ceremony.” However, the range is limited, and several spelling and word-choice errors make the letter less clear or less appropriate for a company complaint. Examples include “campony,” “marrige ceremoney,” and “gratefull.” Phrases such as “spending good days” and “It will be humble request” are not natural in this context. Aim for accurate, conventional complaint-letter language, such as “I am writing about my order” and “I would be grateful if you could arrange a replacement.” Proofreading spelling and collocations would make your meaning more reliable.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

Most sentences use simple structures, and the reader can generally identify the purchase, defect, and reason for urgency. There are attempts to connect ideas, but grammatical errors are frequent and sometimes make the meaning difficult to follow. For example, “which will held tomorrow” needs a correctly formed future passive, while “I have no time decided to another dress are visit to market” lacks a clear grammatical structure. Articles and sentence boundaries also need attention, as in “I found a cut that was on the front of the shirt” and the run-on sequence beginning “Dear sir yesterday.” Practise accurate past-tense reporting and clear sentence patterns, then check each sentence for a subject and a complete verb.

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