Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Barron's Writing · 2026-07-26

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 6.5)

Respected Sir/Madam,

I am writting this letter to inform you that i had lost my bag

I went to my business trip last week on 25th july to Mumbai and i had a stay in a Taj Hotel and i need to meet my client to another Hotel which was 20km Away so i book a taxi and when i reached to the destination i was in hurry that i forgot to take my bag. However, when i reach to meet my client i realised that i forgot my bag in a taxi.

The bag was black in colour with a three zip on it and its a waterproof bag whcih was gifted by my wife on my 25th birthday .Not only it contains a important documents, but also, its a memory for me .On top of my Bag SUNBAGS company logo is there and i buy this bag on special request from company so its a rare product.

Its a humble request to find my Bag as soon as possible because it contains important documents in it like my photo id, drivers Licence, and some business papers . i will be waiting for your response.

Your Faithfully,

Om Patel

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

The letter covers all three bullet points required by the prompt: explaining how the bag was lost, describing the bag, and requesting assistance. The tone is generally appropriate for a formal letter to a manager. However, the narrative regarding the loss of the bag is slightly confusing, as the student mentions a business trip to Mumbai and a hotel stay, which provides unnecessary context that distracts from the core task of explaining the taxi ride. To improve, the student should focus more directly on the specific taxi journey and the moment the bag was left behind, ensuring the information provided is concise and relevant to the request.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The letter is organized into clear paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the structure of the request. There is a logical progression from the incident to the description and finally the request for help. However, the use of cohesive devices is somewhat mechanical and occasionally repetitive. For example, the transition between sentences could be smoother, and some linking words are used incorrectly or awkwardly, such as 'Not only it contains... but also, its a memory'. Improving the variety and accuracy of transition signals would help the flow of the letter significantly.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.5

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, allowing the student to describe the bag and the situation clearly. There are some attempts at more specific vocabulary, such as 'waterproof' and 'rare product', which is positive. However, there are several spelling errors ('writting', 'whcih', 'Licence') and minor word-choice issues ('i buy this bag' instead of 'I bought'). While these errors do not impede communication, they indicate a need for more careful proofreading and a wider range of precise vocabulary to reach a higher band score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The student uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. However, there are frequent grammatical errors throughout the text, particularly with verb tenses ('i had lost', 'i book a taxi'), subject-verb agreement, and punctuation. The misuse of 'i' instead of 'I' is a consistent error that detracts from the formal tone. While the meaning remains clear, the frequency of these errors suggests a lack of control over complex structures. Focusing on consistent tense usage and basic punctuation rules would greatly improve the accuracy of the writing.

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