Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-08-23

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 5.5)

Dear Sir or Madam,

I am writing to express my satisfaction about the router that I have just bought from your company.

The router is not working properly as it always break down by itself. and when I attempt to figure out the reason behind the problem it keeps not working.

I believe this pressing issue is genuinely affecting my work. As I work remotely from home. I mainly rely on my laptop and many other equipment that I picked them up from your store and the most important gadget is the router which help me access to work with its internet connection.

I would be grateful if you could aid me through sending someone to check out the problem or to send another router instead of malfunctioning router that I have.

I hope you will consider my complaint favorably. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Yours Faithfully,

Matt Joe

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The letter addresses all three bullet points: the problem is described, the impact on work is explained, and a solution is requested. However, there is a significant error in the opening sentence where you state you are writing to express 'satisfaction' when you clearly intend to express 'dissatisfaction'. This creates confusion regarding the purpose of the letter. While the requirements are met, the tone is slightly inconsistent due to this error, and the development of the impact on your work could be more specific to reach a higher band.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The letter is logically organized into clear paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the narrative. You use basic cohesive devices such as 'As I work' and 'I would be grateful if'. However, some transitions are mechanical or slightly awkward, such as the sentence fragment 'and when I attempt to figure out the reason behind the problem it keeps not working.' Improving the flow between sentences and ensuring that punctuation does not break the logical progression of your ideas would help improve the coherence of the text.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, but there are some inaccuracies in word choice. For example, 'satisfaction' is used instead of 'dissatisfaction', and 'picked them up' is a bit informal for a formal letter. You also use 'malfunctioning router' correctly, which shows some ability to use specific terminology. To improve, focus on using more precise formal vocabulary and ensuring that your word choices accurately reflect the intended meaning of your message.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

There are several grammatical issues throughout the letter. You have sentence fragments, such as 'As I work remotely from home.' and 'and when I attempt to figure out the reason behind the problem it keeps not working.' Additionally, there are errors in subject-verb agreement ('it always break down') and preposition usage ('access to work'). While the meaning is generally clear, these frequent errors in basic structures prevent the writing from reaching a higher band. You should focus on sentence boundaries and basic verb tense consistency.

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

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