Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-11-04

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 inform you that I purchased some garments through the official website. Sadly, I am not happy with this order and now seeking urgent help.

I want to give some details about the products that I bought were two sweatshirt of medium size, two lowers black color of large size and three customized hoodies with different colors.

Unfortunately, I recieved 2 small size sweashirts and for the lower i got one in grey color and other one in navy blue.Moreover, hoodies i got are not in the material they described online which was fully synthetic.

I want to request a quick replacement before 7 november as I am going on a family vacation to meet my cousins brother and sister living abroad. I selected those items as a gift for them after spending a lot of time on selection. I am hoping a positive reply from your side very soon.

Kind regards,

Tapleen sandhu

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.5

The letter addresses all three required points: you identify the clothing ordered, explain the incorrect sizes, colours and hoodie material, and request replacement before 7 November. The reason for urgency is also clear: the items are intended as gifts for relatives you will visit abroad. These details make the purpose easy to understand and keep the response focused. To strengthen the letter further, make the purchase details more precise, such as giving an order number or purchase date, and clarify exactly which items need replacing. The request is clear, but a more explicit closing action—asking the company to confirm dispatch or explain the return process—would make the response more fully developed.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 7.0

The information follows a sensible sequence: you introduce your dissatisfaction, list the order, describe what arrived, and explain the deadline and reason for urgency. Paragraph breaks help distinguish these stages, while transitions such as “Unfortunately” and “Moreover” guide the reader through the problems. Some connections are less smooth, particularly “I want to give some details about the products that I bought were…,” where the sentence structure makes the list difficult to enter. The final paragraph also combines the replacement request, travel explanation and hope for a reply in a crowded sequence. Use clearer topic sentences and link each item in the list consistently to its problem to make the progression more polished.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use enough vocabulary to communicate the order and complaint, including “customized hoodies,” “replacement,” and “family vacation.” However, several word choices and spelling errors reduce precision and naturalness: “lowers” is unclear for clothing, “fully synthetic” may not accurately express the advertised fabric, and “cousins brother and sister” is awkward. There are also misspellings such as “recieved” and “sweashirts,” which are noticeable in a formal complaint. Aim for precise clothing terms and conventional customer-service language, and proofread spelling. For example, specify “black trousers” if that is what you mean, and describe the material as “the synthetic fabric stated in the product description.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

The letter includes both simple statements and more developed structures, such as “I selected those items as a gift for them after spending a lot of time on selection.” Meaning is generally clear, but some grammatical errors remain. In “I am not happy with this order and now seeking urgent help,” the second clause needs “am.” The sentence beginning “I want to give some details about the products that I bought were…” combines two structures incorrectly; write, for example, “I bought two medium sweatshirts, two large black pairs of trousers, and three customised hoodies.” There are also issues with plurals and articles, as in “two sweatshirt,” and punctuation spacing after “blue.” More accurate sentence construction and proofreading would improve control.

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