Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Barron's Writing · 2026-08-08

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,

I am writing this letter to inform your company about my bag, i forget in one of the company's taxis I boarded yesterday on my way home.

About thirty minutes after my classes, I boarded a taxi with your company's name and logo on it. It was a three-hour drive from my school to my house. Being in the taxi during the drive i slept off due to how stressed and tired I was after my classes. Reaching my destination, i hurried to get out of the taxi, thereby forgetting my bag inside the car, due to how sleepy and weak I was.

It was a big brown leather bag that had a few openings and a long, thick handle to carry the bag. The bag contained my study books, which I make use of daily.

I will greatly appreciate this, if my request is looked in and granted

Yours Faithfull

I humbly request that you as the manager to look into this complaint and help me find my bag.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The letter covers all three bullet points: 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 structure is slightly disjointed, particularly with the final request appearing after the sign-off. While the ideas are relevant, the development is somewhat repetitive, as the student mentions being tired or sleepy multiple times to explain the loss. To reach a higher band, the student should ensure all relevant information is integrated into the body paragraphs before the closing, and provide more specific details about the taxi (e.g., time, location, or taxi number) to make the request more effective.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The letter is organised into paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the narrative. However, the flow is interrupted by the placement of the final request after the sign-off, which is a significant error in letter structure. Cohesive devices are used, but they are sometimes mechanical or repetitive (e.g., 'due to how...'). The referencing is generally clear, but the logical progression is hindered by the disjointed ending. Improving the use of transition words and ensuring the letter follows a standard formal structure would significantly improve the coherence of the response.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is adequate for the task but lacks variety and precision. Phrases like 'slept off' and 'hurried to get out' are informal and slightly repetitive. The student uses basic descriptors for the bag, such as 'big brown leather bag' and 'long, thick handle'. While these are functional, they do not demonstrate a wide range of vocabulary. There are also minor errors in word choice, such as 'look in' instead of 'look into'. To improve, the student should aim to use more precise adjectives and formal collocations suitable for a business complaint letter.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The response contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors. Examples include 'i forget in' (tense and pronoun error), 'i slept off' (informal phrasing), and 'I will greatly appreciate this, if my request is looked in' (awkward passive construction). Punctuation is also inconsistent, with lowercase 'i' used in several instances. While these errors do not completely impede communication, they occur frequently enough to impact the overall quality of the writing. Focusing on subject-verb agreement, correct tense usage, and consistent capitalization would be beneficial.

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

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