Band 7.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 7.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-10-06

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 7.5)

Dear Sir or Madam,

I am writing to complain about the recent items I purchased online through your company's website during Christmas sale.

I bought two shirts, a jean and a pair of shoes. Shirts were a size medium and costed me $25 each and I got the jean as a part of buy two get one free deal. The shoes were a size ten and my order number is #20259.

Apart from the jeans, I have issues with both the shirts and shoes as the shirts that got delivered are a size large instead of medium. Similarly, for shoes, I ordered a size ten but received a smaller size and it feels tight while wearing.

Because I have an interview scheduled within the next four days, I would appreciate it if you could help with arranging the replacement as soon as possible. This will save me a lot of time as otherwise I would have to re-order them and that would take another week to get delivered.

I look forward to you prompt reply.

Yours faithfully,

Naman Sannan

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 8.0

Your response covers all parts of the task well, providing clear details of the purchase, a specific description of the problems encountered with both the shirts and the shoes, and a logical explanation of why a replacement is needed urgently for your upcoming interview. Your ideas are well developed and easy to follow. To move to the highest level, you could provide even more specific detail regarding the exact model or style name of the clothing items to make the context feel completely authentic.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 8.0

Your letter demonstrates a logical sequencing of ideas and information throughout. Each paragraph serves a distinct purpose, moving smoothly from the opening statement and purchase details in the first two paragraphs to the description of the issues and the urgency in the subsequent paragraphs. Cohesive devices such as 'Apart from the jeans', 'Similarly', and 'otherwise' are managed well. To achieve an even higher level, you could incorporate a wider variety of advanced cohesive links between sentences to ensure the progression feels completely seamless.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.5

You use an adequate and mostly natural range of vocabulary to handle the task, such as 'online through your company's website', 'buy two get one free deal', and 'replacement'. However, there are a few minor lexical inaccuracies, such as using 'a jean' (which should be plural 'jeans' or 'a pair of jeans') and 'costed me' (where 'cost' is the correct past tense form). There is also a small typographical error in your closing phrase ('you prompt reply' instead of 'your prompt reply'). To reach the next level, you need to use less common lexical items with greater precision and eliminate these recurring word form and grammatical-lexical slips.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 7.0

You display a good mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating overall good control of grammar and punctuation. Sentences like 'Because I have an interview scheduled within the next four days, I would appreciate it if you could help with arranging the replacement as soon as possible' show that you can construct complex clauses accurately. While there are a few minor errors—such as the missing article in 'Shirts were a size medium' and the awkward phrasing 'it feels tight while wearing'—these errors are infrequent and do not impede communication, with a large portion of your sentences remaining error-free.

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