Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Barron's Writing · 2026-08-09

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/Madam,

I am writing to formally express dissatisfaction with the jacket I purchased on 6 August.

To begin with, the jacket has a small hole in it and when I tried to wear the jacket, it clearly seen from the back, and when I came yesterday to return the jacket, the staff said no return and if you do not want to keep it just left the jacket there, but you could not get any refund because there was no hole in it and you have not checked when you brought the jacket and according to your policy, I can return the jacket within a month and get full refund, and it has been only 5 days; I brought this jacket. Moreover, such shortcomings are unacceptable and have caused significant inconvenience.

In the light above, I would appreciate it if you could take immediate steps to rectify this matter. I would also expect refund or replacement compensation.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

yours Faithfully.

Fateh Singh

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

You have addressed all three bullet points required by the task: describing the problem, explaining the interaction with the staff, and stating your desired outcome. The tone is appropriately formal for a letter of complaint. However, the development of ideas is somewhat hindered by grammatical issues, particularly in the second paragraph where the narrative of the store visit becomes slightly confusing. While the purpose is clear, the explanation of the staff's reaction could be more precise to ensure the manager fully understands the nature of the service failure. Overall, you have fulfilled the requirements of the task effectively.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The letter follows a logical structure with a clear opening and closing. You use some cohesive devices such as 'To begin with' and 'Moreover' to link ideas. However, the second paragraph is quite dense and suffers from run-on sentences, which makes the flow of information feel a bit mechanical. The connection between the store's policy and your specific situation is slightly disjointed due to the lack of clear sentence boundaries. Improving your use of punctuation and transition words would help the reader follow your argument more smoothly.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using phrases like 'formally express dissatisfaction', 'rectify this matter', and 'significant inconvenience'. These are appropriate for a formal complaint. There are some minor issues with word choice, such as 'left the jacket there' instead of 'leave the jacket', and 'brought this jacket' when you likely meant 'bought'. While these errors do not impede communication, they indicate a need for more precise control over collocations and verb forms to reach a higher band score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

Your writing shows a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. However, there are frequent grammatical errors, particularly with verb tenses and sentence construction. For example, 'it clearly seen' should be 'it is clearly seen', and the long sentence in the second paragraph lacks proper punctuation, making it difficult to parse. There are also issues with subject-verb agreement and article usage. While the meaning remains understandable, the high frequency of these errors limits the clarity of your writing and prevents a higher score in this criterion.

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

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