Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-08-28

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/Madam,

I'm writing this email to express my disapointment with my recent purchase of a Men's Jeans on your website.

My order number is #3245, it was purchased on December 15th and it was delivered to me on 20th of December, I made a payment via credit card ending with 4356.

I was really excited to wear it on New year party, however, when I opened the package it was damged, there is a stain on it and its little bit torn as well on the front side above the keen area and its clearly visible, making it look bad and unwearable, I'm attaching pictures of the jeans delivered to me as a reference to my issue.

I kindly request you to please arrange a replacement with an expidited shpping so it can be delivered to me before the new year party, I also recommend you to take this incident as a feedback and improve your quality check before shipping out the items.

It would be wonderful, if you can provide partially refund or a copun as a gesutre of token with replacement of the Jeans.

I'm looking forward to hear from you at the earliest, do let me know if you need any further information with regards to this issue.

Yours faithfully,

XYZ.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

You have successfully addressed all three bullet points in the prompt. You provided clear details of the purchase, described the specific damage to the jeans, and explained the urgency regarding the upcoming New Year's party. The tone is appropriate for a formal complaint letter, and the purpose of the communication is clear from the outset. To reach a higher band, ensure that your requests are phrased with slightly more professional precision; for example, instead of asking for a 'token', you could request a 'goodwill gesture'. Overall, the task is fully covered.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

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, the request for a replacement, and finally the closing. You use some cohesive devices like 'however' and 'therefore' (implied), though the flow could be improved by using more varied linking words. Some sentences are slightly run-on, such as the second paragraph, where multiple clauses are joined by commas. Using full stops to separate these distinct pieces of information would improve the readability and cohesion of your writing.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for this task, such as 'expedited shipping' and 'unwearable'. However, there are several spelling errors, including 'disapointment', 'damged', 'expidited', 'shpping', 'copun', and 'gesutre'. These errors are frequent enough to be noticeable, although they do not impede the overall meaning of your letter. To improve, focus on proofreading for common spelling mistakes and try to incorporate more precise collocations, such as 'full refund' instead of 'partially refund' or 'damaged condition' instead of 'looked bad'.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is generally clear, there are recurring grammatical issues, particularly with article usage ('a Men's Jeans' should be 'a pair of men's jeans') and punctuation (comma splices). For instance, 'My order number is #3245, it was purchased...' should be two separate sentences or joined with a semicolon. There are also minor errors in verb tense and agreement, such as 'I'm looking forward to hear' which should be 'I look forward to hearing'. Increasing your control over these basic structures will significantly improve your score.

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

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