Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · 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 5.5)

Dear Sir or Madam,

I am writing this letter to you about the relpacement for my order. Recently, I bought a korean dress from your website. It is blue in color with some floral thread design on neck as well as on arms under the name of Lovepreet kaur.

Unfortunately, I ordered in green color in medoum size but I received the dress in blue color. Moreover, the size is also incorrect that is extra large. I wanted a relacement urgently as I have a special occassion next week. I like to wear this dress on that occassion as I donot have any other option.

I would be glad and really appriciated if you replce this order as soon as possible as I am your regular customer. I hope to hear from you soon.

Yours truely,

Lovepreet

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response covers all three bullet points from the prompt: you gave details of the purchase, described the problem regarding the incorrect color and size, and explained why you need a replacement urgently for a special occasion next week. However, there is a penalty applied because the word count is 137 words, which fails to meet the minimum requirement of 150 words. As a result, the task is only partially satisfied in terms of required length, bringing the overall task achievement score down. To improve, ensure you fully expand your ideas and consistently hit the word count threshold.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The letter follows a clear formal layout, starting with the required greeting 'Dear Sir or Madam' and ending with a formal sign-off. Paragraphing is used to separate the introduction, the body describing the problem and urgency, and the closing request. Cohesive devices such as 'Unfortunately', 'Moreover', and 'as soon as possible' are used to connect ideas, although some transitions feel a bit repetitive. The overall organization is logical and easy to follow, making the communication clear despite minor mechanical flaws in cohesion.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is generally adequate for the task, with appropriate terms such as 'purchase', 'replacement', and 'website'. However, there are several spelling and word-choice errors, such as 'relpacement', 'medoum', 'occassion', 'appriciated', and 'replce'. Additionally, phrases like 'thread design on neck' lack natural collocation. These lexical errors indicate a limited but minimally adequate range for general correspondence, where communication remains intact but requires more precision and accurate spelling.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

You demonstrate a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as 'I wanted a relacement urgently as I have a special occassion next week.' There are several grammatical and punctuation errors throughout the text, including incorrect prepositions ('in green color' instead of 'green') and spelling errors in verb forms ('I like to wear' instead of 'I would like to wear', and 'donot'). Despite these errors, the meaning is generally clear and does not impede overall communication. Greater control over complex sentence accuracy is needed for a higher band.

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

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