Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Barron's Writing · 2026-08-19

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 grab your attention to the issue of forgot bag in taxi last night.

On yesterday, i was in hurry to leave for hospital as my father was ill and in quick situation i forgot my bag to pick and ended up in not able to deposit the registration fee at the hospital.

The bag is black in colour. It is of guess company and in limited edition . The chain is of pink colour. This was gifted by my mom on my birthday . The bag contains valuable things such as my credit cards, license, home keys and money as well.

It would be really helpful for me if you could please find this at your earliest convenience.

I look forward to hear from you. Please let me know if you have further inquiries.

Yours sincerely,

Ritika vaid

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The letter covers all three bullet points: explaining the loss, describing the bag, and requesting help. However, the response is slightly under the 150-word minimum, which impacts the overall task achievement score. The tone is generally appropriate for a formal letter, although some phrasing is slightly unnatural. To improve, ensure you provide more detail in your explanations to meet the length requirement and enhance the professional tone. For example, adding a specific time or taxi identification number would have made the request more effective and helped reach the word count.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The letter is organized into logical paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the narrative. However, the use of cohesive devices is somewhat limited and occasionally mechanical. For instance, the transition between the description of the bag and the request for help is abrupt. Using more varied linking words or phrases (e.g., 'Furthermore,' 'Consequently,' 'In addition to this') would improve the flow between sentences and paragraphs, making the letter feel more cohesive and professional.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is adequate for the task but lacks variety and precision. There are several awkward collocations, such as 'forgot bag' instead of 'left my bag' and 'in quick situation' instead of 'in a rush'. The use of 'guess company' is also unclear. To reach a higher band, you should aim for more natural collocations and precise terminology. For example, instead of saying 'valuable things', you could specify 'personal belongings' or 'essential items'. Expanding your range of descriptive adjectives would also enhance the quality of your writing.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

There are frequent grammatical errors throughout the text, such as 'On yesterday' (incorrect preposition/time marker), 'i was in hurry' (missing article), and 'I look forward to hear' (should be 'hearing'). While the meaning remains clear, these errors are noticeable and detract from the overall quality. The sentence structures are mostly simple; incorporating more complex sentence forms, such as conditional sentences or relative clauses, would demonstrate a better command of grammar. Proofreading for basic subject-verb agreement and article usage is essential.

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

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