Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Barron's Writing · 2026-08-11

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 writing this letter to express my dissatisfaction about the recent purchase I made from your store.

I bought the knitted jacket yesterday from your store.While unboxing , I observed that the jacket is having a huge hole in the right arm and the colour is also faded from the back side.which made me unhappy.

I took the Jacket back immediately to the store. The sales representative mentioned that there is no return policy on the purchase.Even after polite request he started behaving rudely with me and he was not ready to help me out at all due to which I have to come to my house hopeless and mad.

Being the store Manager I would really appreciate if you could either refund my money or replace the damaged jacket with the new one.

Thank for your consideration.

Ravneet kaur

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The letter addresses all three bullet points: describing the jacket's damage, explaining the store's refusal to return it, and stating the desired outcome. However, the response is 143 words, failing the 150-word minimum requirement. This under-length significantly impacts the development of ideas, as the narrative is quite brief. To improve, you should expand on the details—for instance, by including the date of purchase or the specific name of the store representative. Because the task is not fully completed due to the word count, the score is limited.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The letter is organized into logical paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the sequence of events. However, the use of cohesive devices is somewhat mechanical and limited. For example, the transition between the description of the damage and the return attempt is abrupt. Additionally, there are minor punctuation errors, such as missing spaces after periods (e.g., 'unboxing ,', 'side.which'), which disrupt the flow. Using a wider variety of linking words like 'consequently', 'furthermore', or 'despite this' would improve the overall cohesion and logical progression of your argument.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The vocabulary is generally adequate for a formal letter, but it lacks the range and precision expected at higher bands. Phrases like 'having a huge hole' and 'mad' are slightly informal or simplistic. While you successfully convey the message, the word choice is repetitive. To reach a higher band, try to incorporate more sophisticated collocations and precise adjectives. For example, instead of saying the representative was 'behaving rudely', you could use 'unprofessional conduct'. The spelling is mostly accurate, but the overall lexical range remains limited to basic, functional language.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

You demonstrate a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are several grammatical inaccuracies. For instance, 'the jacket is having a huge hole' should be 'the jacket has a huge hole' (stative verb usage). There are also issues with sentence fragments and run-on sentences, such as 'which made me unhappy' starting a new sentence without a subject. While these errors do not prevent the reader from understanding your meaning, they occur frequently enough to impact the overall accuracy. Focusing on subject-verb agreement and proper sentence boundaries will help improve your score.

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

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