Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

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

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 5.5)

Dear madam,

Hope you are doing well , i want you to pay attention to my problem urgently. On 1 september i ordered kurta pajama from your online website , I really like to buy suff online that help me to save my time.

So the problem that i face during shopping online is the quality of that product is not really very good that i wanted to be before i ordered this , i was called to your store regarding the quality of this product and the representative talked with me said , dont worry sir the quality of this product is really very good. Furthermore , the size of pajama that i ordered was S size with well bottom but i recieved M size with narrow bottom.

I really want this replacement urgently in next few days because i ordered this dress for my friends wedding. So, can you please make this replacement process fast because i eggerly want to wear this on my friends wedding day to make it memorable for me.

Hope you will give your best.

Yours faithfully,

Lovepreet Singh

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response covers all three bullet points required in the task instructions. You successfully provided details of the purchase (mentioning the date of September 1st and the item ordered, a kurta pajama), described the problem clearly (poor quality and the wrong size and bottom style received), and explained why you need a replacement urgently (for a friend's wedding). The tone is appropriately semi-formal for a complaint letter, although some parts feel slightly conversational. All aspects of the task are adequately addressed, meeting the basic requirements for this task type. To reach a higher band, the explanation and details could be slightly more polished and professional, but your communication is entirely clear and serves its purpose well.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The letter maintains a reasonably coherent overall arrangement, allowing the reader to follow your narrative from the purchase to the specific complaints and your urgent request. However, paragraphing is somewhat weak; the body of the letter is compressed into one long, run-on paragraph, which makes it harder to separate the purchase details from the problem description and the urgency. Cohesive devices are occasionally used (such as 'Furthermore'), but punctuation and run-on sentences interfere with smooth progression. Sentences like 'So the problem that i face during shopping online is...' run together ideas without adequate pauses or transitions. Using clearer paragraph breaks for each separate point—such as one paragraph for the purchase and problem, and another for the urgency—would significantly improve the flow and organisation of your letter.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

Your vocabulary is adequate for the task, allowing you to convey your message clearly despite some limitations. You attempted some topic-specific and less common vocabulary such as 'representative', 'replacement', and 'urgently'. However, there are noticeable errors in word choice and phrasing, such as 'I really like to buy suff online' (spelling of 'stuff' and awkward phrasing) and 'eggerly want to wear this' (misspelling of 'eagerly'). Word formation and collocations also show minor inaccuracies, for instance, 'with well bottom' instead of a clearer description of the flare or cut. While these lexical errors do not completely impede communication, they restrict the score to the band 5.5 level because the range is limited and contains frequent slips.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

You attempted a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as using 'because' clauses to explain your reasons. However, there are frequent grammatical errors and punctuation issues throughout the response. Capitalisation is frequently missing at the beginning of sentences and for the pronoun 'I' (e.g., 'i want you', 'i ordered'). Run-on sentences are present due to comma splices and lack of full stops, such as in 'On 1 september i ordered kurta pajama from your online website , I really like to buy suff online...'. Additionally, verb tense and agreement inconsistencies occur, such as 'the representative talked with me said , dont worry'. While your sentences communicate the core message, the frequency of basic grammatical and punctuation errors keeps the accuracy at this level.

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

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