Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-10-20

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 5.0)

Dear SIr,

The intent of this correspondence is to bring your attention to this matter. I want to make a return or replacement of my product.

Regarding this matter, I would like to highlight a few important observation. I bought Aerie pink hoodie on boxing day sale. I purchased it from white oaks mall in London.

The hoodie we bought is torn in axillary part.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 3.5

You identify the purchase as a pink Aerie hoodie bought during a Boxing Day sale and state the main problem: it is torn in the underarm area. However, the response addresses the task only minimally. It does not give a purchase date or order details, clearly request a specific remedy, or explain why a replacement is urgent. The opening says you want “a return or replacement,” but this is not developed into a clear request. Most importantly, the required explanation of urgency is absent. The response is also substantially below the required 150 words, leaving too little space to cover the three bullet points. Add relevant details and explain the time-sensitive reason you need the replacement.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The information is presented in a basic sequence: you introduce the purpose, give some purchase information, and then describe the damage. This gives the reader a limited sense of organisation, and phrases such as “Regarding this matter” attempt to connect ideas. However, the letter stops abruptly after identifying the tear, so there is no progression to a request, urgency, or closing. The repeated formal framing (“this matter”) is also mechanical rather than helping the message flow. Use separate paragraphs for purchase details, the problem, and your requested action, then connect them with clear references such as “Unfortunately” and “As I need it for…”.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use some suitably formal language, including “correspondence” and “highlight,” and the product and defect are identifiable. There is also some task-relevant vocabulary, such as “replacement” and “torn.” However, the range is narrow in this short response, and several choices are awkward or imprecise: “make a return” is not the natural phrasing for requesting a refund, while “axillary part” is overly technical and unclear in a customer-service letter. “Important observation” is also an unnatural phrase in this context. Prefer direct, conventional wording such as “request a replacement,” “underarm seam,” and “a few important details.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The short response includes mostly understandable simple sentence patterns, such as “I bought Aerie pink hoodie on boxing day sale.” You also attempt a more formal opening, but the range of structures is limited, and some grammatical errors remain. In that sentence, the singular countable noun needs an article (“an Aerie pink hoodie”), and the sale phrase needs clearer article use (“during the Boxing Day sale”). “A few important observation” has a plural agreement error: use “observations.” The final sentence shifts from “I” to “we” without explanation, making the reference unclear. Build a few accurate complex sentences to explain when you bought the item, what is wrong, and why you need a replacement quickly.

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

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