Band 4.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.0 · Barron's Writing · 2026-08-24

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

You live in a small apartment building with a parking lot in back, and you often cannot find an empty parking space when you get home from work.

Write a letter to your landlord. In your letter
• describe the situation.
• explain why it bothers you.
• suggest something the landlord could do to solve the problem.

You do NOT need to write any addresses.

Begin your letter as follows:

Dear ____

Student answer (Band 4.0)

Dear Sir or Madam,

I hope you are well. I am writing this letter to share my concern about the problem with the jacket.

Recently, I bought a jacket from your store, but when I got home, I discovered it was damaged. It is brown color leather jacket with one zip and two small pockets and long sleeves. But I discovered one damage that the big scratch on the right side small pocket. Apart from that, one sleeve is perfect and another is little bit small. So basically, I found two problems with jacket. My jacket is too expensive.

Furthermore, next day I went at your store back to return the jacket with receipt , , your one employee say that merchandise products can not be returned. I never idea that there is no exchange policy and return policy at your store. I am really disappointed with the service.

I would like to the manger to take my problem seriously and exchange my jacket. Because the jacket is too expensive and spend more money on it and I want full refund.

Your Faithfully,

Shreya Mistry

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 1.0

The response is completely off-topic. The prompt asks for a letter to a landlord regarding a parking space issue, but the student has written a complaint letter to a store manager about a defective jacket. Because the task requirements (describing the parking situation, explaining why it bothers the writer, and suggesting a solution) have not been addressed at all, the response fails to meet the requirements of the task. Even though the letter format is followed, the content is entirely irrelevant to the prompt provided.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The letter is organized into paragraphs, and there is a basic attempt at logical progression (describing the item, explaining the store interaction, and stating the desired outcome). However, the lack of relevance to the prompt makes the overall coherence problematic. Cohesive devices such as 'Furthermore' and 'Apart from that' are used, but they are mechanical and do not serve a relevant purpose given the content mismatch. The structure is clear, but the content is entirely misaligned with the task instructions.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary is limited and repetitive. The student uses basic descriptive terms like 'damaged', 'expensive', and 'disappointed'. There are several errors in word choice and collocation, such as 'merchandise products' instead of 'merchandise' or 'items', and 'I never idea' instead of 'I had no idea'. While the vocabulary is sufficient to convey the meaning of the complaint about the jacket, it lacks the range and precision required for higher bands. The errors in phrasing occasionally hinder the flow of the text.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The writing contains a mix of simple and some attempted complex sentences, but there are frequent grammatical errors. Examples include 'It is brown color leather jacket' (missing article), 'one sleeve is perfect and another is little bit small' (awkward phrasing), and 'I would like to the manger to take' (incorrect verb structure). Punctuation is also inconsistent, with double commas used in the third paragraph. While the meaning is generally understandable, the frequency of errors is high, which impacts 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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