Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-11-01

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 5.5)

Dear sir/Mam,

I hope you are doing well. I am just scrolling on Instagram and see your ad where i see new design of flats. I opened a profile and check new design of flat .Flat havr unique design and feature.Therefore i liked one of beautiful flats pair which is elegant and unique.i add in cart and choose a delivery type cash on delivery therefore i purchased it.Meanwhile order reached on 3-5 working days.after 4 day i received my parcel and i extremely excited for my parcel .when i open it and see it but unfortunately flats color is different from what i order.Aftet see that i feel sad and my heart crashed into pieces and my excitement gone spoiled. After that i complain on customer help.therefore i got immediately response and complainer give response and appologize for mistake .He replace my order in 2 days . Therefore he sent my demand color and take wrong flat Now I am thrilled.

Thank you for your help.

regards,

maryam tahir.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You include relevant details about finding the flats on Instagram, choosing cash on delivery, receiving the parcel, and discovering that the colour was wrong. However, the letter does not fully meet the purpose of the task: it mainly recounts a complaint that has already been resolved, saying the company replaced the order, rather than clearly requesting a replacement. The purchase details are also incomplete, as there is no specific item name, order date, or reference number. Most importantly, you do not explain why you need the replacement urgently. Develop these points directly and make your requested action clear so that every part of the task is addressed.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The events are presented in a generally understandable order: you see the advertisement, place the order, receive it, notice the colour problem, and contact customer service. This gives the letter an overall arrangement. However, the response is one long paragraph, so the purchase, complaint, and requested resolution are not clearly separated. Linking words such as “therefore” and “after that” are repeated and sometimes do not show the intended relationship between ideas. For example, “Therefore he sent my demand color” is difficult to connect to the earlier complaint. Use short paragraphs and a more varied set of links, while making the sequence and outcome explicit.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some vocabulary relevant to the situation, including “cash on delivery,” “parcel,” “customer help,” and “replace my order,” so the reader can identify the main issue. There are also attempts at more expressive language, such as “elegant and unique” and “my heart crashed into pieces,” but the latter is too informal and dramatic for a business letter. Several spelling and word-choice errors, including “havr,” “Aftet,” and “appologize,” make the message less clear, while phrases such as “demand color” are not natural in this context. Aim for accurate, conventional customer-service language and check spelling before sending.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response communicates a sequence of events, but sentence structures are limited and many sentences contain errors that make the reader work to understand them. Tense shifts are especially noticeable: “I am just scrolling” and “see your ad” describe a past event, while “I received” is used later. There are also problems with sentence boundaries and punctuation, as in “I opened a profile and check new design of flat .Flat havr…” Articles and plurals are often missing or incorrect, for example “one of beautiful flats pair.” Practise writing clear past-tense sentences, then combine related ideas with accurate punctuation and conjunctions.

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

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