Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Barron's Writing · 2026-09-14

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,

Yeaterday, coming back frrom my university classes I booked a taxi online from the taxi help app.The taxi arrived at proper time and also the driver was nice to me. I usually travel by university bus but due to some emerrgency reasons I had to order a ride and meanwhile I was getting calls from my family due to the emergency sittuation that held in my home.Unfortunatly, when I reached near to my home, I had to pick call from my mother who was waiting patiently for me in the corridor of the home. Therefore, in all this hasty and quick situation I forgot to take my bag that on enterring the taxi i kept behind the seat. As the bag was placed in back of the seat and also I was not in my proper senses I kept that in the taxi.

In order to explain my bag, I had orange colored leather bag, which comprises the 2 to 3kg weight almost and there were necessary belongings of mine.So, I really need my bag back to me as soon as possible as you are the risk handler of the field.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response successfully covers all three bullet points required by the task instructions. You explained how you lost your bag by mentioning the online taxi booking, the emergency phone calls from family, and rushing out of the vehicle. You also described your bag as an orange-colored leather bag weighing approximately 2 to 3 kg containing necessary belongings, and you asked the manager for assistance in finding it. Although the tone of the opening salutation is slightly formal 'Dear Sir' (when the prompt asked for 'Dear Sir or Madam') and the closing is absent, all core content requirements of the prompt are addressed clearly, satisfying the requirements for a Band 6.5 or 7.0 for task completion.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The letter lacks proper paragraphing, as it is condensed into only two large blocks of text, which impacts the visual and structural organization of a formal letter. Additionally, the progression of ideas is occasionally cluttered by run-on sentences and repetitive explanations, such as repeating how the bag was left behind the seat. While cohesive devices like 'Therefore' and 'As' are used, referencing becomes slightly unclear at times, particularly in sentences like 'In order to explain my bag, I had orange colored leather bag'. Organizing the response into distinct paragraphs for each bullet point would significantly improve the overall coherence and logical flow.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, with attempts to incorporate less common items such as 'emergency reasons', 'patiently', and 'hasty and quick situation'. However, there are notable spelling errors ('Yeaterday', 'frrom', 'emerrgency', 'sittuation', 'Unfortunatly', 'enterring') and awkward phrasing, such as 'In order to explain my bag' and 'risk handler of the field'. These lexical errors and awkward collocations show limitations in precision, though communication is generally maintained. A wider and more accurate control of vocabulary is needed to reach a higher band.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The response demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as using subordinate clauses beginning with 'because' or 'as'. However, grammatical accuracy is heavily impacted by frequent errors in punctuation, sentence structure, and spelling. For instance, run-on sentences like 'The taxi arrived at proper time and also the driver was nice to me' and 'Therefore, in all this hasty and quick situation I forgot to take my bag that on enterring the taxi i kept behind the seat' create readability issues. There are also frequent missing prepositions and punctuation slips. These errors frequently cause strain for the reader.

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

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