Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Barron's Writing · 2026-08-20

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)

Dear Mr Mehta,

I hope you are doing well! I am writing this letter to inform you that I booked ride with you yesterday and it was great experience, Driver was very polite and understanding but I lost my bag during the trip. when I load my all luggage in the car I was holding that in my hand but after reaching home I realized that my bag is not with me and it lost somewhere.

Moving ahead it is a leather bag in black colour and contains all my identification proofs which are very essential for me.on the side of bag there is hanging keychain on my name.

Your help will be really appreciated. Please ask that driver if he saw that in car or anywhere else. If you will find that I will send you my mailing address please post it on that address.

I will look forward to hearing from you soon.

Warm Regards,

Sukhan

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

The response addresses all three bullet points of the prompt: explaining how the bag was lost, describing the bag, and requesting assistance. The tone is appropriate for a formal letter, although the opening salutation 'Dear Mr Mehta' contradicts the instruction to begin with 'Dear Sir or Madam'. The ideas are relevant and clearly presented, providing sufficient detail regarding the bag's appearance and contents. To reach a higher band, ensure all instructions regarding formatting and opening are followed precisely, and expand slightly more on the specific circumstances of the journey to provide a more complete narrative.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The letter is logically organized, with a clear progression from the introduction to the description and the final request. Paragraphing is present, though the transition between the initial explanation and the description could be smoother. The use of cohesive devices is somewhat basic (e.g., 'Moving ahead', 'Your help will be really appreciated'). While the flow is generally easy to follow, the letter would benefit from a wider variety of linking words to connect ideas more fluidly. The referencing is clear, and the overall structure supports the reader's understanding of the situation.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The vocabulary is adequate for the task, allowing the student to convey the necessary information clearly. There are some minor inaccuracies in word choice, such as 'load my all luggage' instead of 'loaded all my luggage' and 'it lost somewhere' instead of 'it was lost'. The range is sufficient for the task, but there is a lack of more sophisticated or 'less common' lexical items that would demonstrate a higher level of control. The description of the bag is functional but could be improved with more precise adjectives or descriptive phrases.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The response uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. However, there are frequent grammatical errors, particularly with verb tenses and articles (e.g., 'I booked ride' instead of 'I booked a ride', 'on my name' instead of 'with my name'). Punctuation is also inconsistent, with some missing spaces after periods and incorrect capitalization. While these errors do not impede communication, they are frequent enough to prevent a higher score. Focusing on subject-verb agreement and the correct use of articles would significantly improve the accuracy of the writing.

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

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