Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Barron's Writing · 2026-10-04

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 Sir or Madam,

I hope this letter finds you well. I recently made a purchase from your City centre store last week. The item was a winter jacket worth $500. When I came back home and I was trying my new jacket, I found that the pocket of the jacket was torned out.

Next day, I went back to the store to return it. Unfortunately, the employee denied it completely. I also asked to exchange it but they said the same type of item is now out of stock and they can neither return it nor exchange it. As I mentioned earlier, the jacket is worth of $500 and the amount is very big. I also requested that I can buy any other products worth the same amount, but they directly refused to entertain my request.

Therefore, after several attempts, I am writing this letter to you so that you can solve this matter. I am open to purchase other items worth the same money but I would like you to compensate my wasted time and the harsh behaviour by your employees. I hope that you will take the right decision favoring both the sides.

Looking foreward to your response,

Best regards,

ABC

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

The response successfully covers all parts of the prompt, addressing the jacket's damage, the interaction at the store, and the desired resolution. The tone is appropriately formal for a complaint letter to a store manager. The description of the problem and the store's refusal are clear, satisfying the lower band fully. However, the response leans slightly towards the Band 6 descriptor because some ideas, such as the request to compensate for wasted time and employee behaviour, are somewhat under-developed rather than fully elaborated. To reach a higher band, the writer could provide more specific details regarding the store location or the employee's name, and expand more naturally on the exact nature of the compensation sought without sounding slightly repetitive in the concluding paragraphs.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The letter maintains a clear overall arrangement with an appropriate opening and closing, and information is logically sequenced from the initial purchase to the store visit and final demand. Paragraphing is used sufficiently to separate distinct stages of the narrative. Cohesive devices are generally adequate, but referencing and transitions occasionally feel a bit mechanical or basic, such as the repetitive use of sentence starters like 'I also'. Pronoun referencing is mostly clear, though some transitions between paragraphs could flow more smoothly to achieve a higher level of cohesion. This places the response firmly at the halfway mark, meeting all requirements of the lower band while showing glimpses of logical progression that point towards greater fluency.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, successfully communicating the main points such as 'purchase', 'winter jacket', 'out of stock', and 'compensation'. The writer attempts some less common vocabulary items like 'merchandise' (implied context) and 'compensate', but there are noticeable errors in word choice and form. For instance, 'torned out' is incorrect both in spelling and word form (should be 'torn'), and 'open to purchase' would more naturally be 'open to purchasing'. Furthermore, phrases like 'amount is very big' are a bit simplistic for a higher band. While these errors do not impede communication, they reflect the precise boundaries of the current band, where vocabulary is functional and sufficient for the message, but lacks the precision, style awareness, and collocation control required for a higher score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.5

The response demonstrates a reasonable mix of simple and complex sentence structures, incorporating relative clauses and conditional-like framing successfully, such as in 'As I mentioned earlier, the jacket is worth of $500'. There are some minor grammatical errors and awkward prepositions, such as 'worth of' instead of simply 'worth', and 'harsh behaviour by your employees' which could be phrased more naturally as 'employee misconduct'. Punctuation is generally fine and sentences are mostly understandable, meaning these errors rarely impede communication. The presence of these recurring minor errors, combined with a reliance on standard sentence patterns rather than a wide variety of fully flexible complex structures, aligns the grammar evaluation accurately with the awarded band.

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

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