Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Barron's Writing · 2026-09-05

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 5.0)

Dear sir,

Iam writing to inform you that i accidentally left my bag in one of your its number in QWE 456 the name of the driver is adbul. i was in so hurry when i got the taxi from my work to home unfortunatally, i left my bag in one your taxi.

my bag is of black and white colour and medium in size. and its from Gucci brand. my contains some of my important documents like my passport and some of my bank cards.

I would be very greatful to you if you help me to find my bag by contacting your driver and letting me know as soon as possible. you can contact me on my same contact number from which i am calling you.

yours faithfully,

addy sam

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The letter covers all three bullet points: explaining the loss, describing the bag, and requesting assistance. However, the response is under the 150-word minimum, which significantly impacts the development of ideas. The explanation of how the bag was lost is repetitive and lacks detail, and the description of the bag is quite brief. To reach a higher band, you should expand on the circumstances of your journey and provide more specific details about the contents or the bag's appearance to help the manager identify it more easily. The under-length nature of the response prevents a higher score.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The letter is organised into logical sections, but the paragraphing is poor. The text is essentially one large block, which makes it difficult to follow. While you use basic cohesive devices like 'and' and 'because', the flow is often disjointed. There is a lack of variety in linking words, and the transition between the description of the bag and the request for help is abrupt. To improve, ensure you use clear paragraph breaks for each new point and employ a wider range of cohesive devices such as 'consequently', 'furthermore', or 'in addition' to connect your ideas more fluidly.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task but remains quite basic. Phrases like 'in so hurry' (should be 'in such a hurry') and 'my contains' (should be 'my bag contains') show limited control over word choice and collocation. There is little attempt to use more sophisticated or precise language. To improve, try to incorporate more descriptive adjectives and formal business terminology suitable for a letter to a manager. For example, instead of 'I was in so hurry', you could use 'I was in a rush' or 'I was preoccupied'.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

There are frequent grammatical errors throughout the text, including issues with capitalization ('Iam', 'i', 'adbul'), punctuation, and sentence structure. For example, 'its number in QWE 456' is unclear, and 'my bag is of black and white colour' is slightly awkward. You rely mostly on simple sentences, and there is a lack of complex structures. To improve, focus on basic sentence construction, ensure proper capitalization, and try to incorporate more complex sentences using relative clauses or subordinating conjunctions to demonstrate a wider grammatical range.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.