Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Barron's Writing · 2026-10-03

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,

Hello, I am writing this letter to you regarding my bag which I forgot in yours company taxi.

Let me describe everything in detail about my ride, Yesterday I booked yours company taxy at 11 am for surrey to vancouver. Taxi came 11:10 am at my home then I started my journey. When I was going to vancouber then I was attending lot of phone call from my construction company beacuse some problems created by unkown persons in our office, so I feel stressed and I forgot my red color bag in the car.

So I want to help from you, please let me explain that how to I get my bag back

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.5

The response addresses the main purpose of the letter, covering how the bag was lost, describing it, and asking for help. However, the tone is overly informal for a business communication, beginning with 'Hello' rather than the required 'Dear Sir or Madam' prompt continuation, and the ideas remain quite basic and limited. Crucially, the length requirement of at least 150 words is not met, as the text contains only 115 words. This results in an under-developed response where the description of the bag is restricted to just 'red color bag' and the request for assistance is brief and repetitive, placing this criterion at a lower level.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.5

There is some basic organisation in the letter, moving from the introduction of the problem to the details and concluding with a request for assistance. However, there is a lack of clear overall progression and the layout lacks proper paragraphing, with multiple distinct points crammed together into a single block of text. Cohesive devices are very basic and repetitive, relying on simple conjunctions like 'then' to link clauses ('Taxi came 11:10 am at my home then I started my journey'). Referencing is also occasionally unclear, such as shifting abruptly between sentences without smooth transitional elements. This reflects a fragmented structure typical of this level.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is limited but minimally adequate for conveying the basic message. The writer attempts some task-specific words such as 'journey' and 'stressed', but there are noticeable errors in word choice, collocation, and spelling throughout the text, including 'yours' instead of 'your', 'taxy' instead of 'taxi', and 'unicown' style misspellings like 'unkown'. Phrasing such as 'attending lot of phone call' and 'some problems created by unkown persons' sounds unnatural and causes some difficulty for the reader. The range of vocabulary is constrained, and uncommon lexical items are largely absent or used inaccurately.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The writer demonstrates a very limited range of structures, relying primarily on simple sentences joined by coordinating conjunctions. Whenever attempts are made to construct longer or more complex sentences, errors appear frequently, such as missing articles ('in yours company taxi', 'at my home'), incorrect prepositions ('at 11 am for surrey to vancouver'), and awkward tense usage ('When I was going to vancouber then I was attending'). Punctuation is also problematic, including run-on sentences and missing capitalization or punctuation marks. These frequent errors in basic grammar and syntax require the reader to occasionally expend effort to interpret the intended meaning.

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

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