Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-09-19

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 am writing to express my dissatisfaction with your product that I purchased last week from your online store. The item was a wireless Bluetooth Handset.

Unfortunately, upon using the handset, I discovered that the left speaker is not working at all, and sometimes right one is also show sign of hoarseness. Moreover, during voice chat the mic raspy my voice which lead the listener to unable to understand my instructions.

Nevertheless, I am English teacher and I do work from home. I give online lectures to my students all around the world. As this product was bought only for professional use, the fault has caused considerable loss and affecting my work badly.

I would appreciate it if you could arrange a replacement as soon as possible. I urgently need this handset for an important university lecture scheduled later this Monday. A delay in replacement would cause significant inconvenience.

I kindly request you to process a replacement at the earliest and inform me of the return procedure for the defective item.

Yours faithfully,

raja

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The response successfully covers all the required bullet points of the task. You clearly describe the problem with the wireless Bluetooth handset, specifically noting that the left speaker is broken and the right one shows signs of hoarseness. Furthermore, you effectively explain how this negatively affects your work as an online English teacher, and you explicitly state what action you want the company to take by requesting a prompt replacement and return procedure. The tone is appropriate for a formal complaint letter, and all parts of the prompt are well-addressed with relevant and coherent details.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The letter exhibits a clear logical organisation and progression throughout. Ideas are grouped appropriately into paragraphs, starting with the purchase details and the problem, moving to the impact on your work, and concluding with the desired action. Cohesive devices such as 'Unfortunately', 'Moreover', 'Nevertheless', and 'As this product' are used to guide the reader, although a couple of transitions could be smoother. Paragraphing is used sufficiently and appropriately, maintaining a standard letter format.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate a sufficient range of vocabulary for the task, allowing for some precision in describing the technical faults, such as 'wireless Bluetooth Handset', 'hoarseness', and 'defective item'. There are some less common lexical items attempted with awareness of style, such as 'considerable loss' and 'significant inconvenience'. However, there are a few word choice and collocation inaccuracies, such as 'right one is also show sign' (instead of showing signs) and 'the mic raspy my voice' (where 'raspy' is incorrectly used as a verb). These minor errors do not impede communication.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The response features a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, including conditional or causal relationships such as 'As this product was bought only for professional use, the fault has caused considerable loss and affecting my work badly.' There are some grammatical errors, notably 'is also show sign' and 'lead the listener to unable' (leading the listener to be unable). Punctuation and sentence boundaries are generally well-managed, and despite the recurring minor errors, they rarely impede overall communication, supporting a solid band 6.0 rating.

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.