Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · 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 6.5)

Dear sir,

I hope all is well.

My name is Shivam , and I recently bought one beautiful leather jacket from your store.

I am writing this letter to complain about the same product which I just mentioned earlier.

Firstly, I bought this jacket from your store at the starting of this month. Initially when I looked at the jacket and bought it, it was nice and clean. There was no issue at all. However, after a certain point of time, it started giving me a tough time. The zip of the jacket is not working properly, and I went to the maintainance shop to fix it by my own. Sadly, it did not work out.

After coming back from the shop, I recalled my memory and remembered that the jacket has the warranty of 2 months. That's why I would like you to look into the problem and replace the item on an urgent base.

I am hoping to hear back positive news.

Please do not hesitate to contact if you need any additional information.

Thank you and have a pleasant day.

Sincerely,

Shivam Desai

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The letter addresses all three bullet points of the prompt: purchase details, the nature of the problem, and the need for an urgent replacement. The tone is generally appropriate for a formal complaint. However, the explanation for why the replacement is needed urgently is somewhat weak; the student mentions a warranty but does not explicitly state why the replacement must be urgent (e.g., an upcoming event or cold weather). The development of ideas is sufficient, though the narrative about visiting a repair shop is slightly tangential and could have been replaced with more focus on the urgency of the request.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The letter is logically organized, with a clear introduction, body, and conclusion. Paragraphing is used, though the body paragraphs could be better separated to distinguish between the problem description and the request for action. Cohesive devices such as 'However', 'Firstly', and 'That's why' are used to link ideas, although some transitions feel a bit mechanical. The flow of information is generally easy to follow, and the purpose of the letter is clear from the beginning.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The vocabulary is adequate for the task, allowing the student to convey the necessary information clearly. There are some instances of slightly unnatural phrasing, such as 'at the starting of this month' instead of 'at the beginning of this month' and 'on an urgent base' instead of 'urgently'. While the range is sufficient to communicate the message, there is limited use of less common or more sophisticated vocabulary that would elevate the response to a higher band.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The student uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are some grammatical inaccuracies, such as 'fix it by my own' (should be 'fix it myself') and 'recalled my memory' (which is redundant). Punctuation is generally correct, though the opening 'Dear sir,' should be capitalized as 'Dear Sir,'. Despite these errors, the meaning is never obscured, and the student demonstrates a reasonable level of control over basic sentence construction.

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

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