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,

I am writing this letter to share my dissatisfaction about the T-Shirt I have purchased from your website.

I have received the delivery for the purchased of a white coloured T-shirt that I ordered from your website last week.

I was very thrilled when me and my friend were browsing through your website to purchase the T-shirt. Once I unboxed my delivery I was very disappointed by the colour I have received. The colour I selected was white but. I have received blue instead.

I wanted the T-shirt for my college festival in 2 days, where we had the theme to wear white T-shirt and blue jeans for our performance. I am not very fond of white colour and hence did not have any in my closet. The performance is very vital for my grades and hence I would like to request if you could urgently check with the issue and provide me with the replacement.

Thank you for understanding the issue. Hope to hear from you soon.

Thanks & Regards,

Reshma

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

The response addresses all three bullet points of the task: providing purchase details, describing the error, and explaining the urgency of the replacement. The tone is appropriate for a formal letter of complaint. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited. For instance, the explanation regarding the college festival is clear, but the letter could be improved by including specific order numbers or dates to make the complaint more professional and effective. The purpose of the letter is clear throughout, and the reader is left with no doubt about the required action.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The letter is logically organized into distinct paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the narrative. There is a clear progression from the introduction of the issue to the specific details and the final request. However, the use of cohesive devices is somewhat basic. Transitions between sentences are occasionally abrupt, such as the sentence fragment 'The colour I selected was white but. I have received blue instead.' Improving the use of linking words and ensuring that sentences flow more naturally would enhance the overall coherence of the response.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, allowing the student to communicate the situation clearly. There are some instances of repetitive or slightly unnatural phrasing, such as 'share my dissatisfaction' and 'check with the issue'. While the student successfully conveys the necessary information, there is a lack of more sophisticated or precise vocabulary that would elevate the letter to a higher band. The word choice is functional but lacks the flexibility and precision required for higher scores.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The response contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are several grammatical errors, such as 'the purchased of a white coloured T-shirt' (should be 'the purchase') and 'me and my friend' (should be 'my friend and I'). Additionally, there is a punctuation error where a sentence is incorrectly split with a period before 'I have received blue instead.' While these errors do not impede communication, they occur frequently enough to prevent a higher score. More attention to subject-verb agreement and sentence boundaries is recommended.

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

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