Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

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

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 to express my dissatisfaction with my recent purchase at your online store - Myntra.com.

I bought a traditional wear online on Thursday, November 16, 2026. It was a pair of top and bottom Indian traditional attire - a yellow-colored shirt called 'Kurta' and a pair of pants white in color called 'Paijama'. It was delivered on Saturday same week.

Upon opening the package, I found that the color did not match to what was shown on the website; in addition, the fabric quality is entirely poor and fragile. It seems a defected item has been delivered to me.

I would request you to arrange a pickup and replacement of the product urgently as I had made the purchase for my sister's marriage ceremony. It is a function where no other color dress can be worn and everyone should be in yellow.

I hope you will understand the urgency of the matter and arrange a solution as quickly as possible.

Kind regards,

Nishant Shrivastava

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

The letter successfully addresses all three bullet points of the prompt. You clearly provided the purchase details, described the product issues (color mismatch and poor fabric quality), and explained the urgency regarding the sister's wedding. The tone is appropriate for a formal complaint letter. To reach a higher band, you could expand slightly on the specific nature of the 'defected' item or provide a more formal closing statement regarding the expected timeframe for the resolution, which would further demonstrate a full development of the task requirements.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The letter is logically organized with a clear progression of ideas. Each paragraph serves a distinct purpose, moving from the purchase details to the problem and finally the request for action. You used some cohesive devices such as 'in addition' and 'as I had made', which help the flow. However, the transition between the description of the item and the problem could be smoother. The use of paragraphing is appropriate for a formal letter, and the overall structure is easy to follow throughout the text.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You have a sufficient range of vocabulary to convey your message clearly. Phrases like 'express my dissatisfaction' and 'arrange a pickup' are appropriate for this context. There are some minor inaccuracies, such as using 'defected' instead of 'defective' and 'traditional wear' which is slightly unnatural in this context. While the vocabulary is adequate for the task, incorporating more precise collocations or slightly more sophisticated descriptive language would elevate the score. The current range is functional but lacks the flexibility and precision required for higher bands.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.5

You demonstrate a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. Most of your sentences are clear and grammatically sound, such as 'I hope you will understand the urgency of the matter.' There are a few minor errors, such as 'did not match to what was shown' (should be 'match what was shown') and 'a yellow-colored shirt called Kurta' (which could be punctuated more effectively). These errors do not impede communication. To improve, try to vary your sentence structure further and ensure prepositions are used correctly with verbs like 'match'.

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

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