Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-10-02

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 hope you are doing well. I am writing this letter to you regarding a recent purchase from your shop which is a floral dress. I ordered this dress from your website which arrived at my home this morning, I was very excited for the dress as i was planning to wear it for my convocation ceremony but i was utterly disappointed after trying the dress on me.

I ordered a medium-sized of the dress but i got small one upon the delivery which is too short for me. As i already planned to wear this dress for my graduation day, I haven't bought any other dress as a second option.

By my graduation day being very close which is this Friday, I request you to send me a replacement as soon as possible so that my special day will not be ruined. I really trust your brand to assist my request on an urgent basis.

Kind regards

Komal

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.5

You successfully address all three bullet points required in the prompt. You provide clear details of the purchase by mentioning the floral dress ordered from the website and its arrival time. You describe the problem effectively, explaining that you received a small size instead of the medium you ordered, and that it is too short. Furthermore, you explain why you need a replacement urgently, citing your upcoming convocation ceremony this Friday. Your ideas are well-extended and supported throughout the letter, fulfilling all requirements of the task with a clear and appropriate tone and purpose.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 7.0

Your letter shows a clear logical organization and progression throughout. You make effective use of paragraphing to separate your introduction, the description of the problem, the urgency of the situation, and the closing. You use cohesive devices and referencing appropriately, such as 'which arrived at my home', 'upon the delivery', and 'so that my special day will not be ruined'. While referencing and transitions are generally clear, a slightly more flexible range of cohesive phrases would help elevate the progression even further. Overall, the layout and flow of ideas make the letter very easy to follow.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully incorporating topic-related terms like 'purchase', 'website', 'convocation ceremony', 'replacement', and 'urgent basis'. You attempt some less common vocabulary, such as 'utterly disappointed' and 'assist my request'. However, there are some minor word choice and collocation inaccuracies, such as writing 'a medium-sized of the dress' instead of 'a medium-sized dress' or 'a medium size', and 'assist my request' rather than 'accommodate my request' or 'fulfill my request'. These minor errors do not impede communication, but they reflect a typical profile where vocabulary control is mostly functional rather than fully precise.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating control over structures such as relative clauses ('which is a floral dress', 'which arrived at my home') and conditional elements. There are some grammar and punctuation errors present, such as comma splices ('...this morning, I was very excited...', '...small one upon the delivery which is too short for me') and prepositional or article slips ('By my graduation day being very close'). However, these errors rarely impede communication, and the meaning remains clear throughout the response. To reach a higher band, you need to ensure greater accuracy in complex sentence punctuation and prepositional usage.

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

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