Band 7.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 7.5 · 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 7.5)

Dear Sir or Madam,

I am writing this email in a hope to recover my bag that I forgot yesterday in one of your taxi that I booked from the airport to home.

I had booked a taxi online through the company's website at 5 pm. The driver was a middle aged, black haired, and brown eyed adult. When I boarded the car, I was discussing on a phone call and had my black bag besides me. After I reached home, I forgot to pick it up as I was distracted by the phone call, and realized later.

The bag was black, made of leather, had three zip pockets. In the front pocket, it has identification card and keys. The second pocket has a blue labeled folder, and third pocket is empty.

I will really appreciate if you can help me find it as the blue folder has some confidential documents. I can come to the company office to collect it.

Sincerely,

James Anderson

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.5

The letter successfully addresses all three bullet points: explaining how the bag was lost, describing the bag, and requesting assistance. The tone is appropriate for a formal letter to a company manager. The ideas are clearly presented, and the purpose of the correspondence is immediately evident. To reach a higher band, you could provide more specific details about the taxi journey, such as the approximate time of arrival or the drop-off location, which would help the manager identify the specific vehicle more efficiently. Overall, the task is fully addressed with a clear and logical structure.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 8.0

The letter is well-organized, with each paragraph focusing on a specific aspect of the task. The progression of ideas is logical, moving from the context of the trip to the description of the item and finally the request for help. Cohesive devices such as 'When I boarded', 'After I reached', and 'In the front pocket' are used effectively to guide the reader. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate distinct ideas. The flow is smooth, and the relationship between sentences is clear throughout the text.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.5

The vocabulary is generally appropriate and sufficient for the task. You use functional language like 'recover my bag', 'distracted', and 'confidential documents' effectively. There are some minor limitations in word choice, such as 'in a hope to' (should be 'in the hope of') and 'black haired' (which is slightly unnatural; 'dark-haired' is preferred). While the range is adequate for a formal letter, incorporating more precise descriptive adjectives or professional collocations would enhance the quality of the writing and demonstrate a wider lexical range.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 7.0

The letter demonstrates a good mix of simple and complex sentence structures. Most sentences are clear and error-free, though there are a few minor grammatical slips. For example, 'in one of your taxi' should be 'in one of your taxis', and 'it has identification card' should be 'it has an identification card'. Punctuation is generally accurate. The control of grammar is sufficient to ensure that the message is conveyed without any confusion, and the errors present are non-systematic and do not impede communication.

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

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