Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Barron's Writing · 2026-11-12

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 5.5)

Dear Sir,

Hope you are doing well, My name is Dilbir and I am writing this letter because I left my bag pack in one of your company taxi. In my bag, I have things which is very important to me. It has my all new semester books, which is very expensive and my laptop. I need your help to find it.

I was taking with mom over a phone call about my exams and I got distracted, then I started talking with taxi driver, when I reached home, I releised that I left my bag in the car, I tried to call the taxi driver several times, but he did not pick my calls.

My bad was in the back color and it has white Nike company logo on it. It has to three external zips and one enternal zip. It has five books, and my apple laptop in it. Please can you help me to find my bag. I can not afford new book and laptop. If there is any form I need to fill please send it to me by email or is there any other

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

You address all three requested points: you explain that distraction during a phone call led you to leave the bag in the taxi, describe its colour, Nike logo, zips and contents, and ask the manager to help locate it. These details make the letter relevant and give the company useful identifying information. The explanation of how the bag was lost is clear, though the sequence could be expressed more precisely, and the request would be stronger if you asked the manager to check with the driver or lost-property service. The final sentence also stops before completing the question about what to do next. The response covers the task well overall, but these details are not yet fully developed or polished enough for a consistently complete letter. The opening could also use the specified salutation, “Dear Sir or Madam,” and a more formal tone throughout.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The letter has a generally sensible progression: you introduce the problem, explain the journey and distraction, then describe the bag and request assistance. Paragraphing helps distinguish these stages, and links such as “then” and “when I reached home” make the sequence understandable. However, some connections are awkward or unclear, particularly “I was taking with mom over a phone call” and the shift from the attempted calls to the description of the bag. The final phrase, “or is there any other,” is unfinished and leaves the reader without a complete closing request. To improve the flow, organise each paragraph around one purpose and use clearer transitions between the events and the action you want the manager to take.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use enough vocabulary to communicate the main situation and identify the property, including “distracted,” “external zips,” “logo,” and “semester books.” However, the range is limited and several word-choice, spelling, or collocation errors make parts less clear or less natural. For example, “bag pack” is not the usual term for “backpack,” “my bad was in the back color” obscures the bag’s colour, and “company taxi” would be more naturally expressed as “one of your company’s taxis.” “Very important” and “very expensive” are also repeated, general descriptions rather than precise ones. Aim to use accurate everyday vocabulary and check spelling, especially for key identifying details, so the manager can understand the description immediately.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and longer sentences, including a sequence of events joined with “when,” “then,” and “but.” This allows you to explain how the bag was left behind, and the main message is generally understandable. However, grammatical errors occur across the letter and sometimes make the relationships between ideas difficult to follow. Examples include “things which is very important,” “I have my all new semester books,” and “It has to three external zips”; these show problems with agreement, word order, and sentence construction. There are also run-on sentences, such as the account beginning “I was taking…,” and inconsistent punctuation and capitalisation. Practise building accurate clauses and checking subject–verb agreement, articles, and sentence boundaries while retaining some complex structures.

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

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