Band 7.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 7.5 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-09-03

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 7.5)

Dear Sir or Madam,

I am writing to express my dissatisfaction with the standing desk that I recently purchased from your shop to setup an office environment at home.

To begin with, I bought a motion gray standing desk to set up my workstation and work efficiently. It is a functional desk which can be operated by remote and buttons. Unexpectedly, after the assemble I discovered that the desk is non-functional owing to the machine malfunction. Additionally, It was mentioned in the description that the desk could support up to 50 kgs but surprisingly it was unable to hold 20 kgs of weight.

These challenges effect my overall productivity at work. I am unable to focus on my work and delivery the priority tasks on time. More importantly, these problems create a notable discomfort as I had to put significant amount of manual effort to adjust the height of the leaver which consumes a lot of time and energy.

As a result, I request that you process a full refund or replace the defect item with the original product at your earliest convenience. In addition to that, I would be grateful if you could provide me with some store credits for the future use. If you need any additional information, please feel free to reach out to me at [redacted phone].

I would appreciate your prompt attention to this matter and I look forward to your response.

Yours faithfully,

Raj Kumar Pratap

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 8.0

You have successfully addressed all three bullet points of the task. You clearly described the problem with the desk, explained the negative impact on your work productivity, and provided a clear request for a refund or replacement. The tone is appropriate for a formal letter of complaint. The ideas are well-developed and the purpose of the letter is clear from the outset. You have maintained a consistent and professional tone throughout the response, which is essential for this type of task.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 8.0

The letter is logically organized with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Each paragraph focuses on a specific aspect of the prompt, which helps the reader follow your argument easily. You have used cohesive devices such as 'To begin with', 'Additionally', 'More importantly', and 'As a result' to link your ideas effectively. The progression of information is smooth and logical, and the paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the different stages of your complaint.

Lexical Resource — Band 7.0

You demonstrate a good range of vocabulary suitable for a formal complaint, such as 'dissatisfaction', 'functional', 'malfunction', and 'at your earliest convenience'. However, there are some minor errors in word choice and collocation, such as 'after the assemble' (should be 'after the assembly') and 'defect item' (should be 'defective item'). While these errors do not impede communication, they prevent the response from reaching the highest band. Expanding your use of more precise collocations would further enhance your score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 7.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures effectively. Most of your sentences are clear and grammatically sound. However, there are a few recurring errors, such as 'These challenges effect' (should be 'affect') and 'delivery the priority tasks' (should be 'deliver'). Additionally, there is a minor punctuation error with the capitalization of 'It' in the second paragraph. Despite these occasional slips, your control of grammar is generally strong, and the meaning is always clear to the reader.

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

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