Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-09-14

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 about a problem with a laptop that i purchased from your compnany two month ago.Although laptop was working very well but it suddenly shut down when i was using video conferencing software.

This problem is affecting my work because i do work from home job so i have to do all the meeting in video conferencing with my colleague and my boss. so this laptop is very crucial for to make all ghe data on it and the most vital this is that my all the documents and data in this laptop which is very important for and now it not work i was very fed up in the biggining beacause all my work were stop beacuse of your laptop.

I just want now that you give me the best option for laptop like exachange my laptop or five me another laptop or may be give me discount for my second purchase product of you compnany.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Your faithfully,

Swati Patel

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

You successfully covered all three bullet points required in the task instructions. You described the problem clearly by stating that your laptop suddenly shut down during video conferencing software use. You explained how this affects your work by mentioning that you work from home, rely heavily on video meetings with colleagues and bosses, and need access to critical documents stored on the device. Finally, you clearly stated what you want the company to do by asking for an exchange, a replacement, or a discount on a future purchase. Your tone is appropriate for a formal complaint letter. However, some ideas in the second paragraph are slightly repetitive and convoluted, such as 'for to make all ghe data on it'. Nonetheless, all parts of the prompt are addressed, fulfilling the criteria for a Band 6.0.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

Your letter follows a logical overall arrangement with a clear opening, body paragraphs addressing the core issues, and a polite sign-off. You used some basic cohesive devices like 'Although', 'because', and 'and' to connect your ideas. However, paragraphing is somewhat faulty and underdeveloped; the second paragraph is overly long and crams multiple separate ideas—the work impact, data concerns, and initial frustration—into a single continuous block of text without adequate separation. Furthermore, referencing is occasionally unclear, and punctuation errors (such as missing spaces after periods) make the flow mechanical in places. For these reasons, your Coherence and Cohesion performance aligns best with a Band 5.5.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

You demonstrated an adequate vocabulary range for the task, successfully using terms like 'purchased', 'video conferencing software', 'crucial', and 'discount'. However, there are numerous spelling mistakes ('compnany', 'two month ago', 'ghe', 'biggining', 'beacause', 'exachange', 'five me'), typographical errors, and awkward word choices ('for to make all ghe data'). These lexical inaccuracies are noticeable and occasionally require the reader to pause, though they do not completely impede communication. To reach a higher band, you need to improve your spelling accuracy and attempt a wider variety of less common vocabulary with precise control. This performance warrants a Band 5.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

You attempted a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing subordinating conjunctions such as 'Although', 'when', and 'because'. However, your writing contains frequent grammatical errors and punctuation issues. There are basic capitalization errors ('i', 'Dear sir or madam', 'Your faithfully'), run-on sentences with inadequate punctuation, and structural awkwardness like 'my all the documents and data in this laptop which is very important for and now it not work'. While the core message is still understandable, the high frequency of errors in basic sentence construction and punctuation prevents you from achieving a higher score. Therefore, a Band 5.0 is appropriate.

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

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