Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Barron's Writing · 2026-10-27

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 6.5)

Dear Sir or Madam,

With all due respect, I would like to let you know that Yesterday, I had booked a cab of your company from a shopping mall to home. When I reached home, I realized that I forgot my laptop bag in the trunk of the cab.

I had more than usual more shopping bags, as I went for shopping directly from my office. There were some tools and car cover in the truck of the taxi as well, due to which I was unable to see my bag when I was taking out the shopping bags.

The colour of the bag is brown and it is single hand carry bag laptop bag. There is also a brand logo on the front. Inside bag, you'll find my HP laptop along with its charger and a notebook.

I just want to clarify that it was not the drivers mistake. That was all my negligence. This is requesting you to kindly help me in finding my bag. I have also contacted the company helpline and shared the name of the driver and cab registration number for the tracing. For this I shall be really thankful to you.

Looking for a early positive response.

Yours Faithfully,

Fahad Maqbool

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.5

The letter clearly covers all three required points: you explain that you left the bag in the taxi after unloading shopping, describe its colour and contents, and ask the manager to help locate it. The detail that you have already shared the driver’s name and registration number also makes the request practical and specific. Your explanation that the driver was not at fault adds a clear, courteous tone. To make the response even more fully developed, give a direct way for the company to contact you and specify what action you would like the manager to take, such as checking with the driver or contacting you if the bag is found. Overall, the purpose and relevant details are clear throughout.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The information follows a sensible sequence: the journey and loss are explained first, the bag is described next, and the request and closing follow. Paragraphing helps distinguish these stages, and links such as “When I reached home” and “Inside bag” guide the reader. The letter is coherent overall, but some connections are mechanical or unclear. For example, “There were some tools and car cover in the truck of the taxi as well, due to which…” makes the explanation harder to follow, and “For this” has an unclear reference. Use more precise links and refer explicitly to the relevant details—for instance, explain that the other items obstructed your view while unloading. A clearer progression within the second paragraph would strengthen cohesion.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range of vocabulary for the situation, including “trunk,” “shopping bags,” “brand logo,” “charger,” and “registration number.” These details make the letter’s purpose easy to understand. There are, however, some inaccurate or unnatural choices and collocations, such as “booked a cab of your company,” “single hand carry bag laptop bag,” and “positive response.” “Shopping” is also repeated in “shopping mall” and “went for shopping,” while “bag” recurs frequently. Choose more natural phrases and vary references where possible, such as “booked one of your company’s taxis,” “a brown laptop bag with a single handle,” and “prompt response.” This would improve precision and fluency without changing the clear meaning.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

The letter includes both simple and more complex sentence forms, including the reason clause “as I went for shopping directly from my office” and the longer sentence explaining why you did not see the bag. Meaning remains clear, but some grammatical errors occur. In “Yesterday, I had booked,” the capitalisation is incorrect and the past perfect is unnecessary for this sequence; “Yesterday, I booked” is more suitable. Other examples include “Inside bag” (missing a determiner), “This is requesting you” (incorrect sentence construction), and “Looking for a early positive response” (an incomplete sentence and incorrect article). Review articles, sentence completeness, and tense choice, and punctuate the opening consistently. More accurate control of these forms would make the letter smoother.

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

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