Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Barron's Writing · 2026-08-03

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

You are planning a business trip to another city. You will have some free time to do some sightseeing while you are there.
 

Write a letter to a friend who lives in the city you will visit. In your letter:
• explain the purpose of the trip.
• ask about things to do and see in the city.
• invite your friend to do something with you during your visit.

You do NOT need to write any addresses.

Begin your letter as follows:

Dear ____

Student answer (Band 5.5)

Dear Friend,

I am writing to express my happiness about my business trip to this city, where you reside.

Actually, my management has organized a business meeting in another country and, I take an oportunity to go there. In addition, I would attend an essential meeting and get together in the same nation.

However, we can spend quality time with each other and explore your nation together. Also, I will stay in a famous hotel which is nearest to your apartment. Consequently, I want to invite you for spending a lot of time and to do many water activities, which are famous and popular in your city. Furthermore, I would be delighted to meet my clients and share my business plans with them.

I

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The letter addresses all three bullet points: the purpose of the trip, a request for sightseeing advice, and an invitation to meet. However, the response is significantly under the 150-word minimum, which limits the development of ideas. The explanation of the trip is somewhat confusing, as you mention 'another country' and 'same nation' inconsistently. To improve, you should expand on the specific nature of your business and provide more detail regarding the sightseeing request to ensure the letter feels complete and meets the length requirement.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The letter lacks a clear paragraph structure, which is essential for a formal or semi-formal letter. While you use some cohesive devices like 'In addition', 'However', and 'Consequently', the logical flow is occasionally disrupted by the abrupt transitions and the unfinished nature of the text. The referencing is sometimes unclear, particularly when referring to the location of the business meeting versus the friend's city. Organizing your points into distinct paragraphs—one for the purpose, one for the request, and one for the invitation—would significantly improve the coherence of your writing.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

Your vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, but it lacks the precision and variety expected at higher bands. You use some repetitive phrasing, such as 'business meeting' and 'business plans'. There are also minor errors in word choice, such as 'take an oportunity' (should be 'taking the opportunity') and 'my management has organized' (which sounds slightly unnatural in this context). To reach a higher band, try to incorporate more natural collocations related to travel and social arrangements, and ensure you check your spelling, specifically 'oportunity'.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

You demonstrate a mix of simple and some complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors that occasionally impede the flow. For example, 'I take an oportunity' should be 'I am taking the opportunity', and 'invite you for spending' should be 'invite you to spend'. Additionally, there are issues with article usage and prepositional phrases, such as 'in the same nation'. While the meaning is generally clear, the frequency of these errors suggests a need for more careful proofreading and practice with verb tenses and infinitive/gerund forms.

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

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