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 to express my dissatisfaction with the jacket that I purchased from your online outlet.

On last weekend, I purchased winter jacket from your online store. I bought this jacket because of the warm stuff and good in harsh weather conditions. The jacket is brown in colour as well as, it have the sticker of owl on the right side. This is my favourite colour that's why i purchased this and i got this on good discount.

My main issue is that when i tried to wear the jacket, it was ripped off from and the shoulder as well as the zip was not working properly. Another problem is that when i was looking for the brand sticker there is nothing on the jacket.

I need replacement for this product very urgently, because i am going on a trip with friends to banff and the weather there is quite cold, so i have to wear the jacket like this.

Thank you for your time and consideration. I am looking forward to receiving your response.

Best regards,

Jazz

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.5

The letter clearly addresses all three requested points. You identify the purchase as a brown winter jacket bought online last weekend, describe several faults—the tear, faulty zip and missing brand sticker—and explain that you need a replacement for a cold-weather trip to Banff. The purpose is clear from the opening, and the polite closing is appropriate. The details make the complaint specific, although the reason for choosing the jacket and the urgency could be expressed more precisely; for example, state when the trip is and request a replacement by a particular date. Overall, the task is fully addressed and the main ideas are supported, with some room to develop the request and supporting details further.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 7.0

The information follows a clear, useful sequence: purpose, purchase details, problems, urgency and closing. Separate paragraphs help the reader follow the complaint, and phrases such as “My main issue” and “Another problem” signal the progression. The final paragraph also links the replacement request to the trip. Some connections are less smooth, however: “The jacket is brown in colour as well as, it have…” joins details awkwardly, and “because” and “so” make the urgency sentence feel overloaded. Use clearer sentence boundaries and more precise links—for example, give the trip reason in one sentence and make the replacement request in another. The overall organisation is logical, though cohesion is not consistently flexible.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use enough vocabulary to communicate the complaint and purchase details, including “dissatisfaction,” “harsh weather conditions,” “ripped” and “replacement.” However, several word choices and collocations are noticeably inaccurate or unclear, such as “warm stuff,” “ripped off from and the shoulder,” and “wear the jacket like this.” These expressions make the description less precise, even though the reader can infer the main problems. “Good discount” is also less natural than a standard phrase such as “a good discount.” Aim for accurate clothing and customer-service vocabulary, and check collocations and spelling, including capitalisation of “I.” Greater precision and consistency would make the vocabulary more effective.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The letter includes both simple sentences and attempts at longer structures, such as the sentence explaining the trip and cold weather. However, errors occur frequently across basic sentence patterns and more complex attempts. Examples include “On last weekend,” “I purchased winter jacket,” “it have,” and “when i tried to wear the jacket, it was ripped off from and the shoulder.” These involve prepositions, articles, agreement and sentence construction; lowercase “i” and the comma splice in the final explanation also affect accuracy. The intended meaning is generally recoverable, but some sentences require effort to interpret. Practise building accurate short sentences first, then combine them with controlled clauses, while checking articles, verb agreement and punctuation.

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