Band 7.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 7.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-08-02

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 7.5)

Dear Sir or Madam,

I am writing to express my formal dissatisfaction with the product that I had purchased from your website.

Last month on 20th May I had purchased a suit for my upcoming meeting. My order number is FJR4594 and I am eligible for the replacement or refund until 20th August.

Regarding the issue, I loved the colour of the suit, also the material used was in excellent form. However, the size was quite small as compared to the one that I had ordered, the shoulders are tight and needed to be loose in the fitting or replacement.

As I have a business meeting next week, so I needed an urgent replacement for the product. I am flexible to visit any store near by me for the replacement of the product.

I trust that you will give this matter your immediate attention. Your cooperation in this regard is highly appreciated.

Yours faithfully,

Atharva Patel

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.5

You have successfully addressed all three bullet points in the prompt. You provided the purchase details (order number and date), clearly described the issue with the suit's sizing, and explained the urgency due to an upcoming meeting. The tone is appropriate for a formal letter of complaint. To reach a higher band, you could provide slightly more detail regarding the specific measurements or the exact nature of the 'tightness' to further develop your ideas, but you have fully satisfied the requirements of the task.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.5

The letter is logically organized with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a formal closing. You use paragraphing effectively to separate the different points of your complaint. Cohesive devices such as 'Regarding the issue' and 'As I have' help guide the reader through your argument. However, some transitions are slightly mechanical, and the sentence structure in the second paragraph could be improved by using more varied linking words to connect the order details with the eligibility criteria more fluidly.

Lexical Resource — Band 7.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for this task. Phrases like 'formal dissatisfaction' and 'highly appreciated' are appropriate for the formal register. There are some minor collocation issues, such as 'excellent form' (better: 'excellent condition') and 'needed to be loose' (better: 'needed to be a looser fit'). You have attempted to use specific terminology related to the task, which is good, but expanding your range of descriptive adjectives would help elevate your score further.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 7.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is always clear, there are some grammatical inaccuracies. For example, 'I had purchased' is used where the simple past 'I purchased' would be more natural. Additionally, the sentence 'As I have a business meeting next week, so I needed...' contains a redundant 'so' after the 'As' clause. Despite these errors, your control of grammar is generally good, and the mistakes do not impede communication.

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