Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-09-05

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 6.5)

Dear Sir or Madam,

I hope you are doing well. I am writing this letter to complain about an HP company laptop, which I purchased from your shop last year.

I have been using this laptop for the last year on daily basis for my office work. However, recently, I encountered plenty of problems with the laptop. For example, it shuts down with any notifications when I attending important business meetings, it also makes me unable to save valuable documents due to issue with storage systems and battery cannot hold the charge for a long time. As a result, I am unable to continue my meetings and gain updates about ongoing project works, which reduces my productivity and damage my professional image among the staff. Therefore, I feel more frustrated and depress as well as preventing my progress and overall growth.

I will appreciate it if you could send qualified electrician for repairing of the laptop or it is still under warranty, so you can provide me standard and high quality laptop as a replacement scheme.

I hope you consider my request and help me to overcome my problems within short time. I look forward to your prompt response in this matter.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Yours faithfully,

Twinkle

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

The response successfully addresses all three bullet points of the prompt. You clearly describe the technical issues with the laptop, explain the negative impact on your professional work, and state your expectations for a resolution. The tone is appropriate for a formal letter of complaint. The ideas are well-developed, particularly the explanation of how the technical failures affect your professional image and productivity. To reach a higher band, ensure that your request for action is logically consistent; for example, asking for an 'electrician' to repair a laptop is slightly unusual, as one would typically request a 'technician' or 'service engineer'.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The letter is logically organized with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a formal closing. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the problem description from the requested solution. You use some cohesive devices such as 'However', 'As a result', and 'Therefore' to link your ideas. While the flow is generally smooth, some transitions feel slightly mechanical. To improve, try to vary your linking words and ensure that the progression between sentences is more seamless. Overall, the message is easy to follow and the structure supports the purpose of the letter effectively.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'productivity', 'professional image', and 'warranty'. However, there are some minor inaccuracies in word choice and collocation. For instance, 'shuts down with any notifications' should likely be 'without any notifications', and 'depress' should be the adjective 'depressed'. Additionally, 'electrician' is not the correct term for someone who repairs computers. While these errors do not impede communication, they prevent the response from reaching a higher band. Expanding your range of precise, topic-specific vocabulary would be beneficial.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are several grammatical errors, such as 'when I attending' (should be 'when I am attending'), 'damage my professional image' (should be 'damages'), and 'repairing of the laptop' (should be 'repairing the laptop'). These errors are frequent enough to be noticeable but do not cause significant confusion for the reader. To improve, focus on subject-verb agreement and the correct use of gerunds and infinitives. Increasing the frequency of error-free complex sentences will help you achieve a higher score in this criterion.

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

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