Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Barron's Writing · 2026-08-13

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 my friend,

I hope you are doing well. I am planning to come in your city on 22 August. I am coming for my business purposes. I will have some free time during the this trip so, I want to visit some tourist places.

There are lots of places to visit but I want to go to sukhna lake and Elante mall. I listen a-lot on about these places on social media. I am thinking to go for boating on lake. There are plenty of things I want to buy from mall especially perfume because there is one of the famous shop in the mall.

I will really feel over the moon if you will join me because there is long time to see you. We will spend some time together and will go outside. We didn’t eat from long time together

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

You have addressed all three bullet points: the purpose of the trip, requests for recommendations, and an invitation to meet. However, the response is slightly under the 150-word minimum, which limits the development of your ideas. While the purpose is clear, the request for things to do is somewhat generic, and the invitation could be more detailed. To improve, ensure you expand on your points to meet the length requirement, which will allow you to demonstrate a more complete response to the task instructions.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The letter is organised into paragraphs, which helps the reader follow your ideas. However, the use of cohesive devices is quite limited and sometimes mechanical. For example, the transition between the purpose of the trip and the sightseeing plans is abrupt. Using a wider variety of linking words and phrases (e.g., 'consequently', 'furthermore', 'in addition to this') would improve the flow of your writing and help connect your ideas more naturally.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

Your vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, but it lacks variety and precision. Phrases like 'I listen a-lot on about these places' are unnatural and contain grammatical errors. You rely on basic vocabulary such as 'lots of places' and 'famous shop'. To reach a higher band, try to incorporate more specific and sophisticated vocabulary related to travel and social plans, and pay closer attention to collocations to ensure your word choices sound natural to a native speaker.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

There are several grammatical errors that affect the clarity of your writing. Examples include 'I am planning to come in your city' (should be 'to your city'), 'I listen a-lot on about' (should be 'I have heard a lot about'), and 'there is long time to see you' (should be 'it has been a long time since I saw you'). You rely mostly on simple sentence structures. To improve, try to incorporate a wider range of complex sentence structures and proofread carefully to correct basic errors in prepositions and verb tenses.

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

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