Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-09-16

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/Madam,

I am writing to express my dissatisfaction with the laptop that I bought two months ago. It is an acer laptop, have 5 gb RAM, and its processor is intel 5. It suddenly stopped working and my screen went black, when I restarted it, I was shocked to see a purple line on the screen. Along with the vertical line, system automatically restarting itself.

I am an accountant by profession, Excel is the most used application by me. The purple line causing distraction to me and I am unable to complete my assigned work on time. In addition, frequent restarting causing a stumbling block to save my work, moreover I do not have a habbit of saving instantly my work. In my muscle memory it is inbuilt to save when the whole assignment is completed then I save it because of the error I lost my precious data which I extracted from my Company's balance sheet.

I am requesting you to fix the issue as soon as possible if possible or otherwise give me a replacement laptop so that my work will not affected. I have to submit the Charity Return before the end of September.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Yours sincerely,

Anamika

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

You successfully covered all three bullet points required in the task instructions. You clearly described the technical problem with your laptop, noting the sudden black screen, the purple vertical line, and the automatic restarting issue. You explained how this affects your work by detailing your profession as an accountant, how you rely on Excel, and how the technical malfunction caused you to lose important data extracted from your company's balance sheet. Finally, you clearly stated what you want the company to do, requesting either a repair or a replacement laptop. The tone is appropriately formal for a business letter, and the purpose is clear throughout. All parts of the prompt are well-addressed with relevant details, demonstrating a strong understanding of task requirements.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

Your letter has a clear and logical overall progression. You begin by stating the purpose of the letter and describing the issue, move on to the impact on your work in the second paragraph, and conclude with your requested solution. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate distinct ideas, such as the problem versus the professional impact. However, some cohesive devices and linking words are used a bit awkwardly or repetitively, such as running clauses together with comma splices in sentences like 'It is an acer laptop, have 5 gb RAM...' and 'The purple line causing distraction to me...'. While the organization is clear and easy to follow, improving sentence connectivity and punctuation would elevate the coherence of the writing.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrated an adequate range of vocabulary suitable for a formal business complaint letter, incorporating terms such as 'dissatisfaction', 'malfunction', 'profession', and 'replacement'. However, there are some noticeable vocabulary choices and word forms that detract from precision, such as 'frequent restarting causing a stumbling block to save my work' and 'habbit of saving instantly my work'. You also missed an opportunity to use a wider variety of less common lexical items related to technology and office administration. Spelling and word choice are generally sufficient to ensure that communication is not impeded, but greater precision and lexical variety are needed to reach a higher band.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

You attempted a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are several grammatical errors and punctuation slips throughout the text. For instance, there are agreement and tense issues, such as 'It is an acer laptop, have 5 gb RAM' (should be 'which has' or 'and has') and 'system automatically restarting itself' (missing the auxiliary verb 'is'). Additionally, run-on sentences and comma splices occur, such as 'It suddenly stopped working and my screen went black, when I restarted it...' where a semicolon or full stop would be more appropriate. While these errors do not prevent the reader from understanding your message, they occur frequently enough to keep the grammar score at a moderate level.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.