Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Barron's Writing · 2026-09-18

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 / madam

I am writing this letter formally to enquire about the yesteday I left my bag mistakenly in the taxi I rode.

The main concern is have my driving license in the bag , And it is really inconvinient for me to drive without it.I have to go to important office meeting but without it i am not able to drive my car.this situation has resulted in serious delay and as a result i missed very important business meeting.

I would really appreciate if you could return it to my adresss or where can i come to pick it up as soon as possible.I. trust this matter will be resolved promptly as companies customer rights.

Thankyou for your attention to this concern. I expect a response within 24 hours time .Please contact me at my phone [redacted phone]) or email me at simon324@ gmail.com for further clarifications.

yours sincerely

simon

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response covers all three bullet points required by the prompt, albeit with some minor inconsistencies in the development. You successfully explain how the bag was lost by stating, 'I left my bag mistakenly in the taxi I rode,' and you attempt to describe the contents by mentioning your driving license. Furthermore, you ask the manager to help you find it by offering alternative retrieval options, such as returning it to your address or picking it up. However, the explanation regarding the meeting becomes somewhat contradictory, as you state you missed a meeting because you cannot drive, yet also mention you have to go to an important meeting. Despite these minor issues in idea extension, the requirements of the task are adequately met.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The letter maintains a coherent overall arrangement with a clear purpose established in the opening. Paragraphing is used to separate the main points from the contact details, though the paragraphing structure could be further refined. Cohesive devices are occasionally used, but referencing is sometimes faulty, such as the unclear pronoun usage in sentences like 'The main concern is have my driving license in the bag.' Logical progression is sometimes disrupted by abrupt transitions between ideas, particularly in the body section where the explanation of the lost bag shifts rapidly into personal consequences and demands. Nevertheless, the letter is generally easy to follow and the overall message remains clear.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is adequate for a basic transactional letter, demonstrating an attempt to use functional language. However, there are notable spelling and word choice errors throughout the text, such as 'yesteday' instead of yesterday, 'inconvinient' instead of inconvenient, and 'adresss' instead of address. While these errors do not completely impede communication, they highlight a limited control over less common lexical items. Expressions such as 'as companies customer rights' are awkward and unnatural. To reach higher bands, you should focus on accurate spelling and expanding your repertoire of natural phrasing for formal correspondence.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The writing displays a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, attempting structures like conditional and result clauses (e.g., 'as a result i missed very important business meeting'). However, grammatical accuracy is noticeably weak. There are frequent errors in punctuation, capitalization, and article usage, such as missing articles ('to important office meeting') and incorrect prepositional phrases ('at my adresss'). Additionally, sentence fragments and run-on sentences occur, such as 'The main concern is have my driving license in the bag , And it is really inconvinient'. These errors require some effort from the reader to parse, placing this response firmly in the mid-band range for grammar.

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

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