Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-10-16

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 or Madam,

I am writing this letter to express a serious concern about the clothes that I bought from your firm. Apparently, the size mentioned on the website for the purchased T-shirts truly does not reflect when worn physically.

I bought three oversized fashion T-shirts of different colors in the medium size that I usually wear. They are V-neck with white stripes in a vertical pattern on all of them. On top of that, there are V-grooves on the bottom sides, which made me choose them at first sight on your website.

The T-shirts were not the size as mentioned on the site when purchasing, but they tend to be a smaller size, considering it to be an oversized fashion. This took away a lot of my time getting the product shipped from your warehouse. Nonetheless, the amount of money I paid for the T-shirt also got stuck with you.

Therefore, I request a quick resolution from the company's end by sending the right-size product to my delivery address. Moreover, I request that the company take action to correct the content on the website and make it right for others to make the correct purchasing decision. I hope to see a quick resolution on this matter and look forward to receiving the right size of T-shirts as soon as possible.

Best regards,

Kushal Patel

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The letter addresses the main purpose and includes relevant purchase details: three medium-sized T-shirts, their colours and design, and the mismatch between the advertised oversized fit and the smaller items received. You also request a replacement and ask the company to correct its website. However, the urgency requirement is not clearly fulfilled. You say the purchase “took away a lot of my time” and ask for a “quick resolution,” but do not explain why you need the replacement urgently—for example, an upcoming event or a specific deadline. Some product details are also more developed than the explanation of the problem and urgency. State the practical reason and timeframe for needing the correct shirts to make the request more complete.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The letter has a clear overall arrangement: it introduces the complaint, describes the purchase, explains the sizing problem, and ends with requests and a polite closing. Paragraphing helps the reader follow these stages, and links such as “Therefore” and “Moreover” make the relationship between requests clear. Some connections are less natural or precise, however. “Nonetheless” does not clearly contrast with the preceding point about time, and “This took away a lot of my time getting the product shipped” makes the sequence of events difficult to follow. The final paragraph also repeats the request for a quick resolution and the correct size. Use more direct transitions and make each paragraph advance a distinct point, especially the reason for urgency.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.5

You use a suitable range of vocabulary for a formal complaint, including “serious concern,” “oversized fashion,” “vertical pattern,” and “resolution.” These choices communicate the product details and desired outcome, and the tone is generally appropriate. Some expressions are imprecise or unnatural in this context, such as “the size mentioned on the website … does not reflect when worn physically,” “V-grooves,” and “the amount of money … got stuck with you.” “Right-size product” is also less natural than a more specific phrase. These choices do not prevent understanding, but they reduce precision and fluency. Prefer conventional customer-service wording, such as saying the shirts run smaller than advertised and requesting an exchange or replacement.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.5

The letter includes a mix of simple and more complex sentence forms, including the relative clause in “which made me choose them” and the purpose construction “to correct the content on the website.” Most sentences are understandable, and errors rarely obstruct the message. Some grammatical patterns are awkward or incomplete in their construction. For example, “The T-shirts were not the size as mentioned on the site when purchasing” has an unclear comparison, while “considering it to be an oversized fashion” does not clearly attach to the intended subject. In “This took away a lot of my time getting the product shipped,” the relationship between the time and shipping is also unclear. Build these ideas with more controlled clauses, such as “The shirts were smaller than the size chart indicated, despite being advertised as oversized.”

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.