Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-09-15

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

You recently used a company to help you move your furniture and possessions to your new apartment. The removal company has now asked for your feedback about the service they provided.

Write a letter to the removal company. In your letter

• explain what went well on the day you moved house

• praise an employee who was particularly helpful

• mention an aspect of the service that you were not happy with

You do NOT need to write any addresses.

Begin your letter as follows:
Dear Sir or Madam,

Student answer (Band 5.5)

Dear Sir or Madam,

I am writing this letter to let you know about my feedback for the mover service I recently availed from your company to move my belonging from Sydney to Melbourne. I was very satisfied by the customer service I received on that day.

Your team consisted of four members and they sounded very professional and polite. They handled the fragile items with extra care when I expressed my concern with one of the team member. Moreover, They carefully listened to my inputs while they were packing things like bed, sofa, which gave me a very positive experience thoughout the process.

I would like to praise one employee for his exceptional customer service. His name is Chris. He was proactive the time and he consoled be like a professional whenever I expressed my worries to him.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The student covers most of the key points requested in the prompt: they explain what went well on the move, praise an employee named Chris, and attempt to mention a negative aspect of the service. However, the letter feels incomplete because the student forgot to include the third required bullet point about an aspect they were not happy with, abruptly ending the response instead. Furthermore, the length requirement is NOT met, as the response contains only 139 words, falling short of the 150-word minimum. This negative impact on development and completion leads to a score of 5.0.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The letter opens with an appropriate salutation and a clear statement of purpose. The text is divided into three brief paragraphs, showing some basic paragraphing structure. However, there are issues with logical progression and referencing. For instance, the transition 'Moreover, They carefully listened...' contains an unnecessary capitalisation of 'They'. Additionally, the abrupt ending without a concluding paragraph or sign-off impacts the overall coherence and structural flow. Cohesive devices are minimal and somewhat mechanical, but the overall message remains understandable, aligning with the descriptors for Band 6.0.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate vocabulary for the task, successfully using functional terms such as 'professional', 'polite', 'fragile items', and 'proactive'. However, there are noticeable lexical errors and awkward collocations. For example, the student writes 'mover service I recently availed' instead of 'removal service I recently used', and 'consoled be like a professional' instead of 'comforted me'. Spelling is generally correct, but word choices lack precision. This limits the lexical score to Band 5.5.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The response includes a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as 'When I expressed my concern with one of the team member.' There are several grammatical errors present, most notably subject-verb agreement and singular/plural mismatch, such as 'one of the team member' instead of 'members', and 'the time' instead of 'all the time'. Punctuation is generally acceptable, and the errors do not severely impede overall communication. These features fit the Band 6.0 descriptor, where simple and complex forms are mixed alongside some recurring errors.

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

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