Band 4.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.5 · Recent IELTS Exams (Canada & India) · 2026-08-14

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

You recently helped your company organise an event at a hotel. Write a letter to the hotel manager. In your letter:

– Provide details about the event
– Mention what you particularly liked about the hotel
– Suggest areas for improvement.

You do NOT need to write any addresses.

Begin your letter as follows:
Dear Sir / Madam,

Student answer (Band 4.5)

Dear Sir,

My name is Pravjot Kaur and I am your customer from last 2 years. I made a purchase of sofa set from your store last week which delivered today. However, when it arrived, it was totally broken and I was not expecting that. Sir, when I saw it after delivery, one leg of the big sofa was broken totally and even the glass of the table was also damaged. Although, there were some scraches on the sofa cover, it was catching my eyes so much.

I would like to replace my order or needs my full refund because it makes me totally disappoint. Moreover, can you send someone for pickup this damaged item. Please contact me on my cell number before arriving. I will look forward for your response.

Yours faithful,

Pravjot Kaur.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 3.0

The response fails to address the task instructions entirely. The prompt asks for a letter to a hotel manager regarding an event, but you have written a complaint letter to a furniture store about a broken sofa. Because the content is completely off-topic, the task requirements have not been met. Additionally, the response is under the 150-word minimum, which further impacts the score. To improve, you must carefully read the prompt instructions before beginning to write to ensure your content aligns with the specific scenario provided.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The letter is divided into paragraphs, which is a positive step. However, the logical progression is hindered by the fact that the content does not match the prompt. The use of cohesive devices like 'However', 'Although', and 'Moreover' is present, but they are used to connect ideas that are irrelevant to the task. The referencing is clear, but the overall structure does not support the intended purpose of the letter because the purpose itself is misaligned with the task instructions.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary is basic and repetitive. You use phrases like 'broken totally' and 'damaged item', which are functional but limited. There are also errors in word choice and collocation, such as 'I am your customer from last 2 years' (should be 'for the last two years') and 'it was catching my eyes so much' (which is not a standard idiomatic expression for describing damage). To reach a higher band, you should aim for more precise vocabulary related to formal complaints and business correspondence.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The response contains several grammatical errors that affect the flow of the text. Examples include 'I made a purchase of sofa set' (missing article 'a'), 'which delivered today' (passive voice error: 'which was delivered'), and 'needs my full refund' (incorrect verb form: 'I need'). There is a mix of simple and some complex sentence structures, but the frequency of errors is high. Punctuation is generally acceptable, but the grammatical control is inconsistent, which limits the score.

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.