Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Barron's Writing · 2026-10-24

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 6.0)

Dear Sir,

I am writing this letter in-order to inform you that last night i lost my bag in the taxi.I was tired from the work as well as exhausted due to hectic schedule;unfortunately in a hurry i missed my bag.It is a medium sized tote bag, red in colour and it contains my identity badge ,few cosmetic products and a water-bottle which is customized with my name.It contains few essential documents related to work as well as credit and debit cards.I am tensed about an incident happened to me last thing.Will you help me with the provided clues to re-locate my bag as soon as possible.It would be glad to hear a positive response from you.I will be waiting for your response.

Thankyou in advance.

Yours sincerely,

XYZ

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.0

You address all three requested points: you explain that you were tired and in a hurry, describe the bag as a medium-sized red tote with documents, cards and other belongings, and ask the manager to help locate it. These details make the purpose clear. However, the request is not developed with practical information that could help the company search, such as the journey’s time, route, pickup or drop-off location, or a taxi receipt or booking reference. The response also falls 21 words short of the required minimum, so there is limited space to extend the explanation and make the request more useful. Add those identifying details and specify how the manager can contact you.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The letter follows a generally sensible order: it explains the loss, describes the contents, and then asks for assistance. This makes the main message understandable. However, nearly all the information is placed in one dense paragraph, and the ideas are joined mainly through simple links such as “as well as” and “unfortunately.” The sequence would be easier to follow if you used separate paragraphs for the circumstances of the loss, the bag’s description, and your request. Some transitions are also abrupt: “I am tensed about an incident…” does not connect smoothly to the request that follows. Use clearer links and organise the letter into purposeful paragraphs.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range of vocabulary for the situation, including “hectic schedule,” “medium sized tote bag,” “identity badge,” and “essential documents.” These choices communicate the main details, and the reader can understand what was lost. Some expressions are inaccurate or unnatural, however, such as “in-order to inform,” “re-locate my bag,” and “an incident happened to me last thing.” “Customized with my name” is also less natural than a more direct description of the bottle. Improve precision by choosing conventional phrases for reporting a lost item and describing its identifying features. Check spelling and word forms, including “Thankyou,” and use a consistent, appropriately formal tone.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, for example, “I was tired from the work as well as exhausted due to hectic schedule; unfortunately in a hurry i missed my bag.” The overall meaning remains understandable, but errors in sentence construction and punctuation make parts less controlled. The semicolon is not used effectively here, and several clauses are crowded together without clear sentence boundaries. There are also issues with articles and sentence conventions, as in “due to hectic schedule,” and the pronoun “i” should be capitalised. Practise separating related ideas into complete sentences, and check articles, capitalisation, and punctuation before submitting.

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

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