Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-09-22

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 6.5)

Dear sir,

I am writing to express dissatisfaction of my recent purchase. I ordered navy blue pant and medium size of t-shirt but I have received extra small t-shirt and Black pant. Pant has clearly tear near to the pocket and it's very uncomfortable to wear it. Additionlly, Parcel was damaged when I have received it which suggest that it was not taken care properly during the transit.

My purchase order is C29. I have placed online order on 20th September which was delivered on time but due to wrong size and color, I couldn't use it. It is frustrating. Could you please send me the replacement as soon as possible as I had planned to wear it on friend's party on upcoming weekend.

I will be waiting for your response. Please send someone to collect this order and provide me the replacement. I would appreciate your help.

Thank you for your co-ordination.

Kind regards,

Vaibhav

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

The response covers all three bullet points required by the task instructions. The student provides details of the purchase, including the order number C29 and the order date of 20th September. The problem is clearly described, noting that the wrong items (an extra small t-shirt and black pants) were received instead of a navy blue pair of pants and a medium t-shirt, alongside a tear near the pocket and transit damage. Furthermore, the need for an urgent replacement is explained by mentioning a friend's party on the upcoming weekend. The tone is appropriate for a formal complaint letter, and all parts of the prompt are successfully addressed, leading to a band score of 7.0.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The letter maintains a clear overall progression from stating the purpose of the email to detailing the issues, providing purchase information, and requesting urgent action. Paragraphing is used sufficiently to separate distinct ideas, such as grouping the item defects in the first paragraph and the order details and urgency in the second. Cohesive devices are generally used appropriately, though some transitions could be smoother (for example, 'Additionlly, Parcel was...' contains spelling errors and awkward phrasing). Referencing is mostly clear, contributing to a coherent arrangement that meets the requirements for a band 6.0.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary suitable for a customer complaint, employing terms such as 'dissatisfaction', 'replacement', and 'transit'. However, there are noticeable word-choice and collocation errors, such as 'navy blue pant' (should be 'pants'), 'clearly tear' (should be 'a clear tear'), and 'on friend's party' (should be 'at a friend's party'). Spelling errors like 'Additionlly' also occur. While the vocabulary is sufficient to communicate the message clearly, these inaccuracies prevent the response from reaching a higher band, placing it firmly at a band 6.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as 'Could you please send me the replacement as soon as possible as I had planned to wear it on friend's party on upcoming weekend.' There are several grammatical errors throughout the text, including missing articles ('Parcel was damaged', 'Pant has clearly tear') and minor prepositional mistakes ('on friend's party' instead of 'to a friend's party'). Punctuation is generally acceptable, but subject-verb agreement and pluralisation issues ('navy blue pant', 'extra small t-shirt') are evident. These errors rarely impede communication, reflecting the characteristics of band 6.0.

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

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