Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Barron's Writing · 2026-10-28

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,

I hope this letter finds you well. I recently rode on your taxi service, and believe I may have left my bag in the taxi, while riding towards my home.

I suspect that, when I reached at my destination it was dark on that moment. Though, there was a light in the back cabinet of the taxi, but it was not enough to brighten up the whole cabinet. I assumed that I grab all of my stuff. When I reached at my home, I realised that my hand bag was missing. It is a black colour hand, with a white strap on it.

Could you please help me to find my bag, because it has some important document. My booking reference number was ABL1234 and it was a black colour Honda Civic. This information might be helpful for you to locate the taxi.

I hope you will consider my request at you earliest and please feel free to contact me for further questions.

Yours sincerely,

Pankaj.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.0

The letter addresses all three requested points: you explain that you left the bag when getting out in the dark, describe it as black with a white strap, and ask the manager to help locate it. The booking reference and vehicle details also make the request more actionable. The purpose and polite tone are clear throughout. To make the response more fully developed, give a little more identifying detail about the bag—for example, its size, material, or contents—and specify how the company can contact you or what action you would like it to take. The explanation of how the bag was left is relevant, though the sequence could be stated more directly.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 7.0

The information follows a clear order: you introduce the journey, explain the loss, describe the bag, and then request assistance. Paragraphing helps distinguish these stages, and linking expressions such as “When I reached at my home” and “This information might be helpful” guide the reader through the message. The letter is easy to follow overall. Some transitions are less natural, however: “Though” begins a sentence without a clear contrast, and the repeated “when I reached” makes the account feel slightly repetitive. Use a more direct sequence, such as “As it was dark when I arrived, I did not notice the bag was still in the taxi,” to improve flow and connection between events.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range of vocabulary for the purpose, including “booking reference,” “locate,” “important document,” and “further questions.” These choices help communicate the situation and maintain a polite register. Some word choices and collocations are inaccurate or imprecise, though: “rode on your taxi service” is not a natural way to describe taking a taxi, and “black colour hand” does not clearly identify the item. “Back cabinet” is also an unclear description of the area in the vehicle. Choose precise, conventional phrases such as “travelled in one of your taxis,” “black handbag,” and “rear passenger compartment.” This would make the description clearer and show more controlled vocabulary.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The letter includes both simple and more complex sentence forms, such as “I assumed that I grab all of my stuff” and the sentence beginning “Though, there was a light…”. The meaning is generally understandable, but some grammatical errors remain. In “when I reached at my destination,” the verb “reached” does not take “at”; “it was dark on that moment” also has an incorrect preposition. The past-tense sequence shifts in “I assumed that I grab,” where “had grabbed” would fit the earlier action. There are also issues with articles and sentence construction in “It is a black colour hand.” Review verb patterns, tense consistency, and article use, and recast the “Though” sentence as a complete, clearly connected clause.

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

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