Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-08-11

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 6.5)

Dear Sir or Madam,

I am writing this mail to inform the concern That I am facing with a new pair of trousers I have recently purchased from your website. I had bought it on the 23rd of April and my order number was b2013ssd5.

At first, the trousers seemed good quality, but the issue started after the first wash. Now the pants shrink half of its original size and leaving enormous dark stains on the back side. It is not wearable now ignoring the spots. however, do not forget I had bought it just past week.

So I have a humble request to you that If possible I need an urgent replacement on that. the reason being that I wanted to wear it on the upcoming wedding on 10th of may. Please let me know the details of shipping so I can send it back to you.

Thank you for your consideration.

kind regards,

Akash Joshi

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

You have successfully addressed all three bullet points required by the prompt. You provided the purchase details (date and order number), clearly described the issues with the trousers (shrinking and staining), and explained the urgency regarding the upcoming wedding. The tone is appropriate for a formal complaint letter. To improve, ensure that the opening and closing are fully integrated into the flow of the letter. While you covered all requirements, the development of the 'problem' section could be slightly more professional in its phrasing to better reflect a formal business correspondence.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The letter is logically organized, with each paragraph focusing on a specific requirement of the task. You use basic cohesive devices such as 'At first', 'Now', and 'So' to transition between ideas. However, the flow is occasionally interrupted by slightly awkward phrasing, such as 'ignoring the spots' and 'do not forget I had bought it'. To reach a higher band, try to use a wider range of linking words and ensure that the transition between sentences is smoother, avoiding repetitive sentence structures.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

Your vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, allowing you to convey the necessary information clearly. You use some specific terms like 'order number' and 'replacement'. However, there are some inaccuracies in word choice, such as 'inform the concern' (should be 'inform you of a concern') and 'shrink half of its original size' (should be 'shrunk to half'). Expanding your range to include more precise collocations related to customer service and product defects would improve your score significantly.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

You demonstrate a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are several grammatical errors, such as 'I had bought it just past week' (should be 'last week'), 'I need an urgent replacement on that' (should be 'for that'), and issues with verb tense consistency (e.g., 'shrink' instead of 'shrunk'). Punctuation is also inconsistent, with some sentences starting with lowercase letters. While these errors do not prevent the reader from understanding your message, they occur frequently enough to impact the overall accuracy of the writing.

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

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