Band 7.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 7.0 · Barron's Writing · 2026-11-10

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

You rode in a taxi yesterday. When you got home, you realized you had left your bag in the taxi.

Write a letter to the manager of the taxi company. In your letter
• explain how you lost your bag.
• describe your bag.
• ask the manager to help you find it.

You do NOT need to write any addresses.

Begin your letter as follows:

Dear Sir or Madam,

Student answer (Band 7.0)

Dear Sir,

I am writing to inform you that I lost my bag in a blue taxi owned by Mr Malik which I noticed when I arrived home yesterday. I was seating next to the driver and had no opportunity to keep my bag with me, so it was kept in boot for me.

It was a black bag that contain my clothes, phone chargers and some amount of money. It was only my bag that was in the boot because I complained the seat was not comfortable for me.

I would appreciate if you can help me to contact the driver and inform me of any other necessary steps to recover my lost bag. If you encounter any difficulties in confirming the identity of the driver, please reach out to me on my WhatsApp number -[redacted phone] because I boarded the taxi in your park and I recognised his face.

I look forward to hearing from you shortly.

Yours faithfully,

Kehinde Idowu.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.0

The letter addresses all three required points: it explains that the bag was left in the taxi, describes its contents and colour, and asks the manager to contact the driver and help recover it. The request is clear and appropriately polite, especially in “I would appreciate if you can help me to contact the driver.” The details about sitting beside the driver and the bag being placed in the boot give the account useful context. However, the description could be more distinctive: “a black bag” and a list of contents may not be enough to identify it easily. Add details such as its size, shape, brand, or a distinguishing feature, and clarify exactly when you noticed it was missing. This would make the information more fully developed and useful to the company.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 7.0

The letter follows a clear progression: it reports the loss, describes the bag, makes a request, and closes appropriately. Paragraphing separates the main purposes, while phrases such as “when I arrived home yesterday” and “I look forward to hearing from you shortly” help orient the reader. The request also follows logically from the explanation that the taxi and driver may be identifiable. Some links between details could be clearer. For example, the sentence about the uncomfortable seat and the bag being the only item in the boot is not fully connected to why the bag was left behind. A more direct sequence—explaining that the driver placed it in the boot and that you forgot to retrieve it—would strengthen the progression and make the account easier to follow.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.5

The vocabulary is adequate for the purpose and includes useful task-specific terms such as “boot,” “recover,” “identity,” and “driver.” The tone is generally suitable for a formal enquiry, and the reader can understand the main message. Some word choices and collocations are less natural or precise, however. “I was seating next to the driver” does not express the intended meaning naturally, and “some amount of money” is vague. “I boarded the taxi in your park” may also be unclear to a company manager. Choose more idiomatic expressions and precise descriptions, such as “I was sitting beside the driver,” “some cash,” and “I took the taxi from your rank.” More specific vocabulary for the bag would also help distinguish it.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.5

The response uses a mix of simple and more complex sentence forms, including the relative clause in “a blue taxi owned by Mr Malik” and the conditional sentence beginning “If you encounter any difficulties.” Most meaning remains clear, but some grammatical errors and awkward constructions persist. For example, “I was seating next to the driver” should be “I was sitting next to the driver,” and “a black bag that contain” needs the past-tense form “contained.” In “I would appreciate if you can help,” the more accurate formal pattern is “I would appreciate it if you could help.” The sentence about the bag being the only one in the boot is also difficult to interpret because its grammatical relationship to the seat complaint is unclear. Revising these patterns would improve accuracy and control.

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

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