Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-08-13

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)

Dear Sir or Madam,

I am writing you this letter regarding the T-shirt I ordered from your online portal is not up to mark which I thought it was.

I ordered this t shirt on august 10-2026 and I received my shipment on August 13-2026, when I opened the courier and checked the t-shirt material quality it was not perfect as when I try to wear I can feel too much sweating and itching on my body also this is the hot time of year.

Also, I need to wear on very important day of my life as I am getting engaged. I request you to please replace it to me with cotton t-shirt it will be really helpful and also you can share with me your address or send me an courier details so I can send this shipment back as it is.

Your faithfully

Manav

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The letter addresses all three bullet points: purchase details, the problem, and the need for an urgent replacement. However, the response is slightly under the 150-word minimum, which impacts the overall task completion. While the purpose of the letter is clear, the development of ideas is somewhat limited. For instance, the explanation regarding the 'important day' is brief and could have been expanded to better justify the urgency. To improve, ensure you meet the minimum word count and provide slightly more detail to fully develop each point requested in the prompt.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The letter is organised into paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the structure. However, the use of cohesive devices is quite limited and sometimes mechanical. For example, the transition 'Also, I need to wear...' is a bit abrupt. The flow between sentences could be improved by using a wider variety of linking words (e.g., 'consequently', 'furthermore', 'as a result'). Additionally, the referencing is occasionally unclear, such as in the opening sentence where the grammar makes the connection between the T-shirt and the 'online portal' confusing. Improving the variety of connectors will help the text flow more naturally.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, but it lacks the precision and range expected at higher bands. Phrases like 'not up to mark' and 'hot time of year' are somewhat informal and imprecise. There are also minor errors in word choice, such as 'send me an courier details' (should be 'send me courier details'). To reach a higher band, you should aim to use more sophisticated collocations and topic-specific vocabulary related to customer service and product complaints, such as 'defective', 'unsatisfactory', or 'expedite'.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The response contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors that occasionally impede clarity. For example, the first sentence is a run-on with incorrect clause structure: 'I am writing you this letter regarding the T-shirt I ordered... is not up to mark'. Other issues include missing articles ('a cotton t-shirt') and incorrect preposition usage. While the meaning is generally understandable, the frequency of these errors suggests a need for more careful proofreading, particularly regarding subject-verb agreement and sentence construction.

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

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