Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-09-16

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 and Mam,

I am writing this email because of i bought some clothes online, but i did not like them. Last friday, i was free at home and i felt tedious then i remember i need jean and top. i started to doing some search online on amazon and shein. I saw best and beautiful design of pent and top, then i checked reviews, all the reviews were positive. After reading and searching everything, i decided to buy them. The price was all about $125 including tax. I was happy as a larry to receive it, but when i receive i checked it was not in good condition like the top colour was fade, and the pent jip was broken. I felt very disappointed after receiving them because i waited for three days. I want to replace it as soon as possible because me and my friends planned to go outside. If i will get late replacement then please refund my money. I will be very happy.

Thank you.

Best regards,

Anjali

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response successfully covers all three bullet points required by the prompt. You gave details of the purchase by stating you bought a pair of jeans and a top on Amazon and Shein for $125 last Friday. You described the problem clearly by explaining that the top colour had faded and the trouser zip was broken. Furthermore, you explained why you need a replacement urgently, mentioning that you and your friends have plans to go outside. The tone is semi-formal to informal, which is generally appropriate for an email to a company, though some parts border on overly casual. All key requirements are addressed, and the ideas are extended appropriately to fit a General Training Letter. Therefore, this fulfills the criteria for a Band 6.0.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The letter lacks proper paragraphing, as it is written in one single block of text instead of breaking thoughts into separate paragraphs for the purchase details, the problem, and the urgency. The opening salutation 'Dear sir and Mam' is incorrect for the prompt's instruction ('Dear Sir or Madam') and lacks a blank line before the main text. However, cohesive devices such as 'after reading and searching everything', 'when i receive', and 'if i will get' are used to connect ideas, and the overall progression of the story makes sense. The letter has a logical arrangement, but the absence of paragraphing and mechanical referencing prevent it from achieving a higher band. These issues place this criterion solidly at Band 5.5.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is a mix of simple everyday terms and some more idiomatic expressions. You used some interesting phrases such as 'happy as a larry', although it is slightly informal and misspelled in places. There are noticeable lexical errors, such as 'pent' instead of 'pants' or 'jeans', 'jip' instead of 'zip', and 'fade' instead of 'faded'. Words like 'tedious' are used somewhat inaccurately in the context of feeling bored at home. While there is a sufficient range of vocabulary to communicate the main points adequately, the frequent spelling errors and awkward word choices restrict the lexical score. Therefore, a band score of 5.0 is appropriate here.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The response contains a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, but it is heavily impacted by basic grammatical errors and punctuation issues. There are run-on sentences joined by commas where periods or conjunctions should be used, such as 'Last friday, i was free at home and i felt tedious then i remember i need jean and top.' Capitalisation rules are frequently ignored, notably with the pronoun 'i'. Verb tense consistency is also problematic, shifting between past and present unnecessarily ('i bought', 'i did not like', 'i remember', 'i need'). Conditional structures are misused with double future forms, as seen in 'If i will get late replacement then please refund my money.' Due to the frequency of grammatical inaccuracies, this falls into Band 5.0.

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

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