Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-11-04

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,

Hope you are in good health, i am writing to expression my appreciation. As your company helped me to move my furniture and possessions to my new apartment. they helped me with the heavy furniture and appliances.

one of your employees, Mr black was extremely useful he was doing extra work like cleaning and polishing my furniture which i really admired.

There is one thing i wanted you to consider, as i was not happy that there was no break during the working hours for the employees as they needed some time off due to having heavy loads of work.

Hope you consider my request, i would be thankful.

Thanks

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You address all three requested points: you say the movers handled heavy furniture and appliances, praise Mr Black for helping with the furniture, and raise concern about the lack of breaks. However, these ideas are only briefly stated, so the positive aspects of the moving day and the employee’s contribution are not fully explained. The complaint is also framed as a request to consider breaks rather than a clear account of how this affected the service. The response is below the required 150 words, which limits how fully you can develop the points. Add specific details—for example, how the team worked efficiently or what Mr Black did that made the move easier—and explain your concern more clearly.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The letter has a generally understandable order: it opens with appreciation, gives a positive example, then introduces a concern and closes politely. This coherent overall arrangement supports the reader in following your purpose. However, the opening sentence beginning “As your company helped me…” is a fragment, and the transition from general praise to Mr Black’s contribution is abrupt. The paragraphing is also limited, with the main points crowded together. Use separate paragraphs for the positive feedback, the employee’s help, and the concern, and connect them with natural transitions such as “In particular” and “However.” This would make the progression clearer and reduce the impression of ideas being listed.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant vocabulary for the situation, including “furniture,” “appliances,” “employees,” and “working hours,” and phrases such as “extremely useful” communicate your positive view. The range is nevertheless limited, and several choices or forms are inaccurate or unnatural: “to expression my appreciation” should be “to express my appreciation,” while “doing extra work like cleaning and polishing” could be phrased more precisely. “Heavy loads of work” is also an awkward collocation in this context. Aim for more natural service-related language, such as “handled the heavy items carefully,” “went above and beyond,” or “a demanding workload.” These improvements would make your praise and concern more precise without changing your meaning.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

Your message is understandable, and you attempt to combine ideas using clauses such as “as I was not happy that…” However, the range of sentence structures is limited, and several errors affect accuracy. “As your company helped me…” is an incomplete sentence; attach it to the following sentence or rewrite it as a complete statement. In “one of your employees, Mr black was…,” punctuation is needed around the name, and the sentence would benefit from a clearer clause structure. There are also errors in capitalization and sentence boundaries, including lowercase “i” and “they” after full stops. Practise writing complete sentences with accurate punctuation, and vary simple sentences with correctly formed subordinate clauses.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.