Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-08-18

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

You work at home and have a problem with a piece of equipment that you use for your job.

Write a letter to the shop or company which supplied the equipment. In your letter

• describe the problem with the equipment
• explain how this problem is affecting your work
• say what you want the shop or company to do

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 regarding a laptop which I purchased from your shop 5 days ago.

I bought this laptop for my work use as I remotely work from home. When I am trying to open different applications at same time. It starts buffering and applications shuts off by itself. Firstly, I thought it was problem in my network but when I try same process on my old laptop it work well. I think there is some problem in the motherboard of the laptop which caused effect while using it.

I worked as a accountant and when applications turned off, I have to do all the entries again. It is very challenging and wastage of time.

This laptop is from HP brand. I bought insurance package with this laptop as well. I want to replace the laptop so I can work smoothly.

I will really appreciate your help.

Yours Faithfully,

Deep

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The letter addresses all three bullet points of the prompt: describing the problem, explaining the impact on work, and stating the desired resolution. The tone is appropriate for a formal complaint. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited. For instance, the description of the technical issue is a bit vague, and the explanation of the impact on work could be more detailed to fully convey the urgency. Despite this, the purpose of the letter is clear, and the reader understands exactly what is being requested. To reach a higher band, you should expand on the consequences of the technical failure with more specific examples.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The letter follows a logical structure, moving from the purchase details to the problem, the impact, and finally the request. Paragraphing is used, though the paragraphs are quite short. The use of cohesive devices is somewhat basic (e.g., 'Firstly', 'This laptop'). There is a need for a wider range of linking words to improve the flow between sentences. For example, the transition between the problem description and the impact on your work could be smoother. Overall, the message is easy to follow, but the progression of ideas could be more sophisticated.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The vocabulary is adequate for the task but lacks variety and precision. You use common terms like 'problem' and 'work' repeatedly. There are some minor collocation issues, such as 'remotely work' instead of 'work remotely' and 'applications shuts off' (subject-verb agreement). While the meaning is always clear, the range of vocabulary is limited to basic, functional language. To improve, try to incorporate more specific technical or professional terminology related to equipment failure and customer service requests.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

There are several grammatical errors throughout the text that affect the fluency of the writing. Examples include 'at same time' (missing article), 'applications shuts off' (subject-verb agreement), 'it work well' (tense error), and 'I worked as a accountant' (article error). While these errors do not prevent the reader from understanding your message, they are frequent enough to be noticeable. You rely mostly on simple sentence structures. To achieve a higher score, you should aim to use a wider variety of complex sentence structures and proofread carefully to correct basic subject-verb and article errors.

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

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