Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Predictions Nov 2026 · 2026-11-13

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

You take local buses to get to work in Westbridge. Your journey usually starts at the Central Market stop at about 8.00 a.m., and lately you have found it hard to count on the buses. Write a letter to the director of the local bus service and tell them about the problems you are facing.

Write a letter to the director of the local bus service. In your letter

• describe the problems you have experienced, including buses that are often late and overcrowded
• explain how these problems affect your daily routine
• suggest changes the bus service could make to improve the situation

You do NOT need to write any addresses.

Begin your letter as follows:

Dear Sir or Madam,

Student answer (Band 5.5)

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am writing this letter to express my compaint on recent delays and overcrowded buses which usually starts from Central Market in the morning. This has impacted my login and logout hours at my work place.

As I work at Westbridge ; the 8.00 am bus timing suites best for my work schedule. I have opted for bus card, and I am completely dependent on bus as means of transport.

Recently, I had a rough experience including buses that are often late and overcrowded. This is has makes me very uncomfortable to look for suddent arrnagement last minute. Moreover, due to this, I often reach my work place late by 30 mintunes and end up missing some important clients calls. This also reciprocate to delay in logout timing from work places. Its overall changes the intent of day and makes me work in rush, as lot of important time get wastes waiting for bus.

I request you to kindly look at this matter and arrange a visit in person to sought this at earliest. In case, your initial warning is misconducted, can also consider to change the bus services agent and look for alternatives routes of adjust the crowd.

Thank you for your consideration and I look forward to hear back from you.

Your's sincerely,

Kanchan Vaishnav.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You address all three requested points: you identify late and overcrowded buses, explain that you arrive late and miss client calls, and ask the service to take action. The impact on your work routine is particularly clear in “reach my work place late by 30 mintunes” and the reference to delayed finishing times. However, the proposed solutions are less fully developed: “arrange a visit in person” does not specify what the director should inspect, while changing the service agent or adjusting routes is difficult to interpret. Explain practical measures, such as adding buses at peak times or monitoring punctuality, and clarify how they would help. The letter is appropriately directed to the service and maintains a suitably formal purpose, though some details could be clearer.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The letter has a recognisable structure, moving from the reason for writing to your circumstances, the effects of the service problems, and a request for action. Paragraphing helps separate these stages, and connectors such as “Moreover” and “This also” show attempts to link consequences. At times, however, the progression becomes difficult to follow because several effects are crowded into one paragraph and some references are unclear. For example, “This also reciprocate to delay in logout timing” does not clearly explain the connection, and “In case, your initial warning is misconducted” is hard to relate to the proposed changes. Use shorter, clearly ordered points and make each pronoun refer unmistakably to a specific problem or consequence.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use relevant vocabulary for the situation, including “overcrowded buses,” “work schedule,” “dependent,” and “important client calls.” These choices communicate the main concerns, but a number of inaccurate word choices, collocations, and spelling errors make parts of the letter difficult to understand. For instance, “compaint” should be “complaint,” “suddent arrnagement” is unclear, and “This also reciprocate” does not express the intended consequence. Phrases such as “login and logout hours” and “the intent of day” are also unnatural in this context. Build accuracy by checking spelling and learning common combinations such as “arrive late for work,” “adjust bus schedules,” and “disrupt my daily routine.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, including a sentence beginning “Moreover, due to this” and a conditional construction in the final request. However, some grammatical errors make the relationships between ideas unclear. In “buses that are often late and overcrowded,” the verb should agree with the plural subject in the earlier clause (“buses … start”), while “This is has makes me” combines incompatible verb forms. The sentence “This also reciprocate to delay” also has a subject–verb agreement problem, and “I look forward to hear” requires a gerund (“hearing”). Review verb forms, agreement, and sentence boundaries, then proofread each sentence for a clear subject and main verb. More accurate control of these structures would make your message easier to follow.

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

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