Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-10-12

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 want to inform you that why my work is getting late every week. It is because of our company's laptop, which is running very slowly and giving me a hard time these days.

It's been more than a month since the laptop has been taking too long to process everything. Once I want to switch between two applications, it takes more than five minutes to process, which is very time-consuming. But now it's giving me more stress because when I start working on something, it turns off automatically, and sometimes it restarts by itself. As a result, I lost everything that I had already done, so I have to restart again.

Because of this issue in the laptop, I have to work more than my working hours. The biggest problem is, it is overall affecting my work, and I am running late for everything. Even the project which you needed last month, I submitted late by three days, and it is affecting our company too.

I want the company should try to fix it once, if not then may be we need to buy a new laptop. Until then, just provide me a spare laptop for work.

Regards,

Arsh

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.0

You address all three required points: you describe the laptop’s slow processing and unexpected shutdowns, explain the resulting lost work and late project submission, and request repair, replacement, and a temporary spare. The specific example of submitting a project three days late helps show the impact on your work. Your purpose is clear throughout. To make the response more fully developed, clarify the requested action and its timing—for example, ask the company to inspect or repair the laptop promptly and provide a spare while it is being assessed. The request to buy a new laptop is conditional but not clearly framed as a next step if repair is unsuccessful.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The letter has a clear overall progression: it introduces the problem, gives details of the faults, explains their effect on work, and ends with a request. Paragraphing supports this sequence, and links such as “As a result” and “Because of this issue” help connect cause and consequence. Some cohesion is less controlled, however: “But now” does not clearly contrast with the preceding point, and “The biggest problem is” repeats the impact already described without adding much. The final paragraph also combines repair, replacement, and a spare request in a way that makes the order of actions slightly unclear. Use more precise transitions and make the requested steps explicit.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You communicate the main problem using relevant terms such as “process,” “applications,” “restarts,” and “spare laptop,” so the reader can understand the situation. However, the range is limited and several expressions are awkward or imprecise, including “inform you that why,” “giving me a hard time,” and “running late for everything.” “It is overall affecting my work” is also an unnatural collocation. These choices make the letter sound less precise and less consistently formal than a business complaint should. Aim for accurate workplace language such as “causing delays,” “interrupting my work,” and “affecting my productivity,” while avoiding conversational phrases where a direct, professional expression would be clearer.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentences, including a time clause (“It’s been more than a month since…”) and a result clause (“As a result, I lost everything…”). Most meaning remains clear, but some grammatical errors occur. For example, “I want to inform you that why” has an incorrect clause structure; “I want the company should try” combines two incompatible patterns; and “if not then may be we need” needs clearer conditional construction and punctuation. There is also a tense inconsistency in “I lost everything” after describing a recurring problem. Practise indirect statements and conditional requests, and check verb forms and sentence boundaries. More accurate control of these patterns would make the letter smoother and more professional.

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

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