Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · 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 5.0)

Dear sir,

I am writing to express my dissatisfaction with a resent online purchase.I made from your store and to urgently request a replacement.

On sep12th I orderd a nevy blue blazer through your office website.It was dilivered yesterday morning, when i open it shirt was medum.I select large size in the options,and left seleve also shot from right.I am reaily not happy with this.

I need the blazer urgent because, in next month,I have a party with my frinds and family.I do not have enough time to buy outfit.I am so exsited abaut party,its reaily importent for me. Please do it urgent.

your faithfuly,

Manpreet singh

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 4.5

The response covers all three bullet points from the prompt in a basic way: you gave the purchase date and item, described the sizing and sleeve defect, and mentioned an upcoming party. However, the development of these points is very limited due to the severe under-length issue. The text contains only 107 words, which falls well short of the 150-word minimum requirement. Consequently, the task is only partially addressed, leading to a penalty under Task Achievement. To achieve a higher band, you must fully develop each bullet point with more context, specific order numbers, and clear resolutions.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The letter uses basic paragraphing, separating the introduction, the body describing the problem and urgency, and the sign-off. However, the logical progression is hindered by choppy sentences and poor formatting (e.g., 'Dear sir,' and the fragmented second paragraph). Cohesive devices are minimal and sometimes inaccurate, such as abruptly shifting topics without transitional phrases. Referencing is occasionally unclear, for instance when jumping from the delivery to the sizing issue. Improving paragraph structure and incorporating cohesive devices like 'consequently' or 'furthermore' would significantly improve the flow and clarity of your writing.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

Your vocabulary is quite basic and repetitive, utilizing everyday terms like 'big,' 'shirt' (instead of blazer), and 'party.' There are also noticeable spelling and word choice errors throughout the text, such as 'resent' instead of 'recent,' 'orderd' instead of 'ordered,' 'nevy' instead of 'navy,' 'dilivered' instead of 'delivered,' 'medum' instead of 'medium,' and 'shot' instead of 'short.' These lexical inaccuracies and misspellings reduce the precision of your communication and pull the score down into the Band 5 range. Expanding your vocabulary and utilizing a spell-checker or proofreading will help you secure a higher score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 4.5

The text displays a very limited range of grammatical structures, relying mostly on simple sentences with frequent errors. Examples of grammatical and punctuation issues include missing capitalization ('sep12th', 'i'), missing articles ('when i open it shirt was medum'), incorrect verb forms ('left seleve also shot'), and punctuation errors like missing spaces after periods. While some simple sentences are clear, the accumulation of structural and mechanical errors causes noticeable difficulty for the reader. To improve, you should practice complex sentence forms and pay closer attention to basic capitalization and punctuation rules.

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

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