Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-09-20

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)

To,

the store manager,

online shop

Sir,

i have recently purchased some tshirts and pants from ur store online

i have purvhased some printed tshirts 2 pcs and a jeans pant of crocodile brand

i ordered the size of 30 for pant and i got delivered with 32 size which is too loose for me and tshirts are not of quality as expected as the colour is already faded when delivered its poor quality and not usable for me so i m looking for the best quality tshirts and a perfect size jeans pant replacement urgently.

i m very much sadddened by the delivered goods and want the replace ment urgently

Kindly look in to the issue and replace my products ass early as possible

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The response covers all three bullet points required in the prompt: details of the purchase are given (two printed t-shirts and a Crocodile brand jeans pant), the problem is described (wrong size for the jeans and faded quality for the t-shirts), and the need for an urgent replacement is explained. However, the length requirement has not been met, as the response contains only 125 words, falling short of the 150-word minimum. This under-length impacts the full development of ideas, restricting the task achievement score to a Band 5.0.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The letter lacks proper paragraphing, being written almost as a single continuous block of text with very little punctuation. Cohesive devices are minimal or absent, relying heavily on consecutive run-on sentences connected by 'and'. While the intent behind the logical sequence of details, problem, and resolution is understandable, the lack of punctuation and paragraph breaks means information is not arranged coherently or progressed smoothly. This falls under Band 4.5 to 5.0 descriptors, warranting a Band 5.0.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is basic and repetitive, such as 'purchased', 'quality', and 'urgently'. There are informal abbreviations and text-speak elements like 'ur', 'pcs', and 'm'. Word choice and collocations are often awkward, for example, 'got delivered with 32 size' and 'jeans pant'. While the meaning is generally comprehensible, the limited range and noticeable errors place this performance firmly at Band 5.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 4.5

The response exhibits a very limited range of grammatical structures, consisting almost entirely of long, run-on simple sentences strung together with coordinating conjunctions. There is a complete lack of punctuation, capitalization at the beginning of sentences (e.g., 'i', 'kindly'), and complex sentence forms. Frequent grammatical errors and punctuation omissions cause noticeable strain for the reader, aligning with the Band 4.5 to 5.0 descriptors.

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

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