Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-09-04

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 5.0)

Dear sir or madam,

i am writing this letter about to discribe my unsatisfication of clothes which i have bought from your website.

I would like to inform you that last week monday on monday special deals i have purchased some clothes for my trip but i am not happy with quality of my clothes.also i want to change some of clothes which have some difective items, For example one of my tshirt i selected some other colour but i recived another colour.

i want to request i am going for my trip in next 3 days i want to replace my clothes within 2 days i have finished my replacement process but it showing more than 3 days but i want it within 2 days.

i hope you will understand my situation and give me soon replacemnet.i will wait for you responce

thank you!

your faithful>

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

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 score. The ideas are present but lack sufficient development to fully satisfy the task requirements. For instance, the description of the problem is somewhat vague, and the explanation for the urgency could be more clearly articulated. To improve, ensure you expand on your points with more detail and check that you meet the minimum word count requirement to avoid a penalty.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The letter is organized into a basic structure, but the lack of paragraphing makes it difficult to follow the progression of ideas. There is a lack of cohesive devices, and the flow between sentences is often abrupt. For example, the transition between describing the problem and requesting the replacement is disjointed. To improve, use clear paragraph breaks for each main point and incorporate linking words such as 'furthermore', 'consequently', or 'however' to connect your ideas more logically and improve the overall flow of your writing.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary is limited and repetitive, relying on basic terms like 'clothes' and 'happy'. There are several spelling errors, such as 'discribe', 'unsatisfication', 'difective', 'tshirt', and 'replacemnet', which occasionally impede readability. The range of vocabulary is insufficient to express ideas with precision or variety. To improve, focus on learning topic-specific vocabulary related to customer service and complaints, and pay closer attention to spelling and word choice to ensure your message is conveyed clearly and professionally.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The response contains frequent grammatical errors, including issues with sentence structure, punctuation, and verb tense. For example, 'i am writing this letter about to discribe' is grammatically incorrect, and there is a lack of capitalization throughout the text. The sentence structures are mostly simple, and there are few attempts at complex sentences. To improve, focus on basic sentence construction, ensure proper capitalization, and practice using a wider variety of sentence structures while proofreading carefully to eliminate common errors in tense and word order.

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

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