Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Barron's Writing · 2026-09-13

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 5.5)

Hello sir,madam

mt name is yogeshkumar and i am writing this email regarding the item that i bought from your store on the last sunday.here i am going to atteched the bill for that for your referance

i would like to know that i am your loyal customer since last three years as a live nereby and it is very easy for me to come here because it is walking distance from my home and everybody knows me in the store.i would like to know that i went for shopping at the store on last weekend and i bought t-shirt which was on sell. i tried that i i liked it very much so i bought it.when i went home and i was showing to my mom but i realied it was damaged.unfortunetly i have to return it as i spent my hard earned money on that but when i went to the store,the cashier told me that he want be able to take it back as it was on sell.i never face such kinf of issue but as i am loyal customer and it was damaged product so i hope i would be able to get replacement or refund,whatever is possible.

lastly, i would say just go through my bills and if you able to contact that store ,it would helpful for me to solve my issue.thanks for you time and understanding.

your faithful

yogeshkumar patel

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The response covers all three bullet points required in the task instructions well. The candidate successfully describes the problem by mentioning that the jacket (though later referred to as a t-shirt) was damaged, explains what happened when trying to return it by stating the cashier refused because it was on sale, and states what they would like the manager to do by requesting a replacement or a refund. The tone is appropriate for a formal complaint letter, and the purpose is clear throughout. Minor inconsistencies, such as switching between 'jacket' and 't-shirt', do not detract from the overall coverage. Therefore, the response fulfills the task requirements effectively, earning a band 6.5.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The letter lacks proper paragraphing, with the main body compressed into one large block of text, which impacts the overall organization. Cohesive devices are minimal, repetitive, and sometimes misused, such as 'i would like to know that' repeated multiple times. While there is a discernible narrative flow moving from the purchase to the problem, the refusal, and finally the desired solution, the lack of punctuation, capitalization, and clear sentence boundaries makes the progression harder to follow. Referencing is also occasionally unclear. Based on these features, the response aligns best with band 5.0.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The candidate demonstrates an adequate vocabulary for the task, successfully communicating key ideas using functional terms like 'loyal customer', 'hard earned money', 'replacement', and 'refund'. However, there is a limited range with frequent spelling and word-choice errors, such as 'atteched', 'referance', 'nereby', 'realied', 'unfortunetly', 'want' instead of 'won't', and 'kinf' instead of 'kind'. Although these errors are noticeable and require some effort to decode, they do not entirely impede communication. This performance fits the band 5.0 descriptors.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The writing relies heavily on simple sentences and a few basic complex structures joined by coordinating conjunctions. There is a complete lack of standard capitalization and punctuation, with run-on sentences like 'i would like to know that i went for shopping at the store on last weekend and i bought t-shirt which was on sell.' Grammatical errors are frequent, including missing articles ('on sell' instead of 'on sale'), incorrect verb tenses or modals ('he want be able to'), and subject-verb inconsistencies. Because these frequent errors cause difficulty for the reader and demonstrate limited control over basic structures, a band 5.0 is appropriate.

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

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