Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Barron's Writing · 2026-09-18

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)

Dear Sir or Madam

I am writing to complain about the jacket i bought from your shop last week.

I purchased a black jacket from your store the one in portharcourt branch. when i got home i noticed that it was torn by the side. I try returning it but your sales representative refuse to change it. It was a devastating moment for me. I have tried so many times to reach out to you but it was not possible.

I have contacted your customer they asked to wait for seven working days before i could be responded to.It over fourteen days now i did not get any feedback.

I would really appreciate if you could change the jacket or give me a full refund of the payments.

I look forward to hear from you.

Yours faithfully.

Vivian.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

You successfully covered all parts of the task bullet points: you described the problem with the jacket ("torn by the side"), explained what happened when you tried to return it ("sales representative refuse to change it"), and stated what you would like the manager to do ("change the jacket or give me a full refund"). However, your response has a negative impact on your Task Achievement score because it contains only 138 words, failing to meet the required 150-word minimum specified in the task instructions. Because of this under-length penalty, your score cannot exceed Band 5.0, despite the clear coverage of all required communicative functions. To improve, ensure you expand further on each point to comfortably surpass the minimum word count.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

Your letter has a coherent overall arrangement and follows a logical sequence from describing the purchase and defect, to the refusal of the sales representative, to your follow-up attempts, and finally to your desired outcome. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate your points, following standard formal letter structure. However, cohesive devices are sometimes mechanical or lacking, and referencing is not always entirely clear, such as in the sentence beginning with "It over fourteen days now" which lacks proper transitions and grammatical connection. Overall, the flow is understandable but basic. Using more varied and natural cohesive links, such as 'consequently' or 'furthermore', would help elevate your score in this area.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

Your vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, allowing you to successfully communicate your complaint. You make successful attempts at using less common vocabulary, such as "devastating moment" and "customer service" (though you omitted 'service'). However, there are noticeable vocabulary and spelling errors, such as "refuse" instead of the past tense 'refused', and capitalization issues like "portharcourt". Furthermore, the range of vocabulary is somewhat limited and repetitive, relying on basic descriptive terms. To achieve a higher band score, you need to incorporate a wider range of precise lexical items and idiomatic phrases suitable for a formal complaint letter, while maintaining strict accuracy in word choice and spelling.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

You demonstrate a mix of simple and some complex sentence forms, such as "I am writing to complain about the jacket i bought from your shop last week." However, there are frequent grammatical errors throughout the text, including punctuation and capitalization mistakes (e.g., lower-case 'i', missing apostrophes), tense inconsistencies ("I try returning" instead of 'tried'), and missing prepositions or articles ("It over fourteen days now"). Despite these numerous errors, communication is rarely impeded because your intended meaning remains clear to the reader. To improve your grammar score, you should focus on careful proofreading to fix basic tense agreements, punctuation, and sentence structures, aiming for a higher proportion of error-free complex sentences.

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

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