Band 7.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 7.0 · Barron's Writing · 2026-10-13

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 7.0)

Dear Sir or Madam,

I am writing to seek you attention regarding my backpack that I missed in your taxi.

Yesterday, I used your taxi services while travelling to home from my workplace. I was already late due to the traffic congestion on my way and when I reached my drop-off location, I forgot my bag in the taxi.

It is a small backpack which is black in colour with red logo in front. It consist my personal belongings which includes a notebook, a laptop and a few confidential documents from my company. It aslo have some loose cash about 3000 rupees.

I would greatly appreciate it if you could ask your lost property department to find my bag. You can also share my personal contact details with them. I could arrange the pick-up when bag is available.

Thank you for your time and consideration. I look forward to you response.

Yours faithfully,

Parminder

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.5

The letter clearly covers all three requested points: you explain that you left the backpack in the taxi after arriving home from work, describe its colour and contents, and ask the manager to involve the lost-property department. The request is polite and appropriate, and the confidential documents and cash help convey why recovering the bag matters. The purpose remains clear throughout. To make the response more fully developed, give a little more detail that could help identify the journey or locate the taxi—for example, the approximate time, pick-up point, destination, or a contact number. The line about sharing your contact details is helpful, but the details themselves are not provided.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 7.5

The information follows a clear, useful sequence: the reason for writing, the journey and loss, the bag’s description, and the request for assistance. Separate paragraphs make each part easy to find, while phrases such as “Yesterday” and “I would greatly appreciate it” guide the reader through the letter. The opening and closing also suit a formal enquiry. Some links between details could be smoother: the sentence about being late due to traffic does not clearly explain how this led to leaving the bag behind. You could connect the events more directly, and make the final request more specific, so the progression feels less like a list of task points.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range of vocabulary for this practical letter, including “traffic congestion,” “drop-off location,” “confidential documents,” and “lost property department.” These choices communicate the situation and the importance of recovering the bag. However, some word choices and collocations are inaccurate or unnatural, such as “seek you attention,” “bag that I missed,” and “travelling to home.” There are also spelling errors in “aslo” and “consist,” and “red logo in front” could be expressed more precisely. These do not prevent understanding, but they limit the naturalness and precision of the letter. Aim to learn common formal-letter phrases and check spelling and collocations during revision.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.5

The letter includes both simple sentences and more developed structures, such as “I would greatly appreciate it if you could ask…” and the sentence explaining the journey and loss. The sequence of past events is generally understandable, and errors rarely obscure the message. Some grammatical inaccuracies remain, including “It consist my personal belongings,” “It … have,” and “I look forward to you response.” Check subject–verb agreement, possessive forms, and articles; for example, the bag “contains” belongings and you look forward to “your” response. The sentence joining the traffic delay and forgetting the bag would also benefit from clearer punctuation or a more direct structure. More consistent accuracy across these patterns would strengthen the letter.

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

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