Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Barron's Writing · 2026-09-01

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 6.5)

Dear Manager,

I am writing this letter to express my dissatisfaction regarding my recent purchase at your store. On last Friday, i bought a black leather jacket from your store worth $150. After paying the price i collected the jacket from the counter and went home. However, when i opened the jacket at home i discovered that the jacket is ripped from inside which is not less and noticeable.

on Saturday, I visited your store again to return the jacket and to express my bad experience. Instead of apologizing, staff clearly refused to return the jacket and said store have no exchange or no refund policy which was never mentioned while selling. They even responded very rudely which I've never expected from your store.

Being a manager its your responsibility to monitor your staff's behavior towards customers. I wanted to request you to accept the return and reimburse my money so i can gain trust on your brand. I will be very thankful to you for the return and please advice your staff to stay

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The letter addresses all three bullet points of the prompt: describing the damaged jacket, explaining the negative experience at the store, and stating the desired outcome. The tone is appropriate for a formal complaint letter. However, the final sentence is incomplete ('please advice your staff to stay'), which leaves the conclusion hanging and slightly impacts the overall clarity of the request. Despite this, the purpose of the letter is clear, and the ideas are well-organized and relevant to the task requirements.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The letter is logically organized into clear paragraphs, with each paragraph focusing on a specific aspect of the prompt. The progression of ideas is easy to follow. Cohesive devices such as 'However', 'Instead of', and 'Being a manager' are used to link sentences and ideas effectively. While the transition between paragraphs is generally smooth, the abrupt ending of the final paragraph slightly disrupts the overall flow. Overall, the structure is coherent and serves the purpose of the letter well.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.5

The vocabulary is generally appropriate for a formal letter of complaint. Phrases like 'express my dissatisfaction', 'reimburse my money', and 'gain trust on your brand' are effective. There are some minor errors, such as 'advice' (should be the verb 'advise') and 'gain trust on' (should be 'gain trust in'). The range is adequate for the task, though it lacks the more sophisticated collocations or idiomatic expressions that would elevate it to a higher band. Communication is never impeded by these minor inaccuracies.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The letter uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are several grammatical errors, such as the inconsistent capitalization of 'i' (which should always be 'I'), the missing article in 'store have no exchange', and the incomplete final sentence. While these errors are noticeable, they do not prevent the reader from understanding the message. The control of punctuation is generally acceptable, though the capitalization errors are a recurring issue that affects the overall accuracy of the writing.

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

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