Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Barron's Writing · 2026-07-29

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

You recently bought a jacket, but when you got home, you discovered it was
damaged. When you took it back to the store, you were told that merchandise
cannot be returned.

Write a letter to the store manager. In your letter:
• describe the problem with the jacket.
• explain what happened when you tried to return it.
• say what you would like the manager to do.

You do NOT need to write any addresses.

Begin your letter as follows:

Dear Sir or Madam,

Student answer (Band 6.0)

Dear Sir,

I am formally writing this letter to you that I have bought a jacket from your store but the jacket was defected. most of the time I purchased from your store your staff is very polite to us.

But this time when I purchase & checked at home, its colour was faded. I thought that I will return or exchange it. But when I came to exchange your staff refused to exchange the sales products can not be exchanged. I was shocked if this type of things happened you

have to told customer firstly.i was unaware at that

time that the sales product couldn't be exchanged.

I have to face such type of embarrassment

from your side. In my opinion please train

your staff that they give all the information to the

customer to avoid such type of ambiguity.please make sure no one could be part of this again as i understand the problem that i have faced.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The letter addresses all three bullet points: describing the defect, explaining the refusal of the return, and stating the desired outcome. However, the development of these points is somewhat limited. The description of the jacket's problem is brief, and the tone is inconsistent, shifting between formal and slightly accusatory. While the purpose of the letter is clear, the ideas could be expanded with more specific details regarding the purchase date or the specific store policy mentioned by the staff to better meet the requirements of a formal complaint letter.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The letter is generally coherent, but the paragraphing is weak. The text is presented as a series of short, choppy sentences that lack smooth transitions. There is an attempt to use cohesive devices, but they are often used incorrectly or in a mechanical way, such as the repetitive use of 'this type of'. The logical progression is present, but the overall structure feels disjointed, which hinders the flow of the argument. Better use of linking words like 'consequently', 'furthermore', or 'however' would improve the cohesion significantly.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The vocabulary is adequate for the task but lacks precision and variety. There are several instances of awkward word choices, such as 'defected' instead of 'defective' and 'sales products' instead of 'sale items'. The phrasing 'I was shocked if this type of things happened' is unnatural and reflects a limited range of expression. While the meaning is generally conveyed, the lack of sophisticated vocabulary and the presence of repetitive phrasing limit the score in this criterion. Expanding your repertoire of formal business terminology would be beneficial.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The response contains a mix of simple and some complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors that occasionally impede clarity. Examples include 'I am formally writing this letter to you that I have bought', which is syntactically incorrect, and 'you have to told customer', which shows errors in verb tense and article usage. Punctuation is also inconsistent, with some sentences lacking proper capitalization or ending punctuation. While the message is understandable, the high frequency of errors in basic sentence construction prevents a higher score.

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