Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Barron's Writing · 2026-08-23

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/Mam

I am writting regarding my bag. Yesterday ( Sunday) i rode in your taxi , from airport to downtown near about 7 pm. i had two big suitcase , which i leave in the taxi trunk, and i was carry a small . I was tired and i put it on another car seat because my body heart and i was sleeping , therefore when driver told me we reached, i was in hurry and i forget to took it. Furthermore, it was small carry cross bag, and the colour is black include with two zipper with gold colour.

I am requesting you to find my bag, and i will pay extra because my wallet and all bank card was in the bag. Not only but also, i am have doctor appointment tommrow , so i need my health card, please find it as soon as possible.

Your sincerely

Amandeep

I

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The letter addresses all three bullet points: explaining the loss, describing the bag, and requesting assistance. However, the development of these points is somewhat limited by the language control. The explanation of how the bag was lost is a bit confusing due to grammatical errors, and the description of the bag is functional but lacks detail. The tone is generally appropriate for a formal letter, though the opening 'Dear Sir/Mam' is slightly informal. To improve, ensure that the sequence of events is clearly articulated so the reader can easily follow the narrative of the incident.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The letter is organised into paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the structure. However, the use of cohesive devices is somewhat mechanical and occasionally inaccurate. For example, 'Not only but also' is used incorrectly in the second paragraph, and the transition between the description of the bag and the request for help feels abrupt. The referencing is sometimes unclear, such as the use of 'it' when referring to the bag, which makes the flow of information slightly disjointed. Improving the variety and accuracy of linking words would significantly enhance the logical progression of the letter.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is adequate for the task but remains quite basic. There are several instances of word-choice errors, such as 'my body heart' (likely meaning 'my body hurt') and 'i was carry a small' (should be 'I was carrying'). The description of the bag is limited to simple adjectives like 'small' and 'black'. To reach a higher band, you should aim to use more precise vocabulary to describe the bag's features and the circumstances of the loss, while ensuring that collocations are accurate and spelling is consistent.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

There is a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but the accuracy is inconsistent. Frequent errors in verb tense ('i leave', 'i forget to took') and subject-verb agreement ('i am have') impede the clarity of the message. Punctuation is also problematic, with inconsistent capitalisation of 'I' and unnecessary spaces before punctuation marks. While the meaning is generally understandable, the high frequency of grammatical errors prevents the response from reaching a higher band. Focusing on basic sentence construction and proofreading for tense consistency will help improve your score.

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

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