Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Barron's Writing · 2026-09-12

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 inform you about the lost of my bag in your taxi.I had books taxi through online platform.I was travelling from canal hosing scheme towards city lake.It was whit nisaan LE-1258.I was getting late for my exam.I forgot to take my bag along with me in hury.I missed in your taxi. It was a tote bag from Aldo.It has my pockets .Aldo brand name has been mentioned on front side of the bag.It has long holding strip.All my important documents are inside that bag.I usually keep a small inside my bag.Bag is in new condition.I bought it last week.It is worth mentioning here that there are two partition in my bag for identification.I shall be very thankful if you could find my bag and delivered it at your main office branch.I can collect from them.I am looking forward to get my bag as soon as possible .

Your faithfully

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The candidate addresses all three bullet points required by the prompt. You successfully explained how the bag was lost by mentioning your online taxi booking, the route from canal hosing scheme towards city lake, and rushing due to an exam. You also provided a detailed description of the bag, noting it was an Aldo tote bag with a white Nissan LE-1258 taxi, and clearly asked for help to find and collect it. However, the response lacks paragraphing, and some details are slightly repetitive or under-developed. Nevertheless, all communicative requirements of a general training task 1 letter are met effectively. Band score: 6.0

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The letter lacks paragraphing entirely, appearing as a single dense block of text, which significantly impacts the logical flow and visual organisation. While the ideas follow a logical sequence from the context of the journey to the description of the bag and finally the request for assistance, the absence of paragraphs makes the overall arrangement overly mechanical. Cohesive devices are minimal, and referencing is sometimes abrupt, such as moving directly from describing the bag to 'I shall be very thankful'. To achieve a higher band, the text needs to be broken down into clear, logical paragraphs corresponding to each section of the prompt. Band score: 5.0

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, with some attempts at less common items such as 'online platform', 'worth mentioning', and 'identification'. However, there are numerous vocabulary and spelling errors, including 'lost' instead of 'loss', 'whit' instead of 'white', 'nisaan' instead of 'Nissan', 'hury' instead of 'hurry', and 'strip' instead of 'strap'. Furthermore, 'partition' is used instead of 'compartments' or 'pockets'. These errors demonstrate a limited control of word choice and spelling, occasionally causing slight strain for the reader, though they do not completely impede overall communication. Band score: 5.5

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The letter displays a mix of simple and some attempted complex sentence structures. There are several noticeable grammatical and punctuation errors throughout the text, such as missing articles ('the lost of my bag', 'in hury', 'small inside my bag'), incorrect preposition use ('delivered it at your main office branch'), and a missing verb in the opening sentence ('writing this letter inform you'). Punctuation and capitalization are also inconsistent, particularly with spacing around periods. Despite these frequent errors, the meaning remains mostly clear and communication is not severely impeded. Band score: 5.0

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

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