Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Barron's Writing · 2026-09-19

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 5.0)

Dear John,

Long time no see! . Well then its a great chance to hang up with you in upcoming days as I'm travelling to your city; Riyadh for a business trip meeting.

It's a one week tour so I will have plenty of time to explore the city as well.

I have heard alot about different recreational activities in Riyadh; particularly

scuba diving , paragliding and much more.

Visiting the safari park is also on my list. I'm also eager to try Saudi cusine as I'm really fod

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 4.0

The student covers all bullet points required by the prompt: the purpose of the trip is explained ("travelling to your city; Riyadh for a business trip meeting"), activities are asked about ("different recreational activities in Riyadh; particularly scuba diving"), and an invitation is made ("great chance to hang up with you"). However, the response is cut off mid-sentence ("as I'm really fod...") and falls significantly short of the 150-word minimum, containing only 89 words. Because the task response is incomplete and under-length, it can only achieve a band score of 4.0 under the task achievement descriptors for addressing the task minimally and failing to develop the ideas fully.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The letter starts with an appropriate informal salutation ("Dear John,") and attempts an informal tone. However, the overall organisation is disrupted by the abrupt ending and lack of complete paragraphing. Cohesive devices are minimal, and punctuation is occasionally faulty, such as the double period after the greeting and the semicolon placement in "city; Riyadh". Progression is difficult to evaluate fully because the text stops prematurely. Based on the language produced, the structure demonstrates basic organisation, aligning with a band 5.0 for coherence and cohesion.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The student uses a mix of everyday vocabulary and some thematic attempts, such as "recreational activities", "scuba diving", and "paragliding". There are several spelling and word choice errors, including "hang up" instead of "hang out", "alot" instead of "a lot", "cusine" instead of "cuisine", and "fod" instead of "fond". Vocabulary range is limited and adequate only for basic communication before the text cuts off. These noticeable errors place the lexical resource in the band 5.0 range.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as conditional or dependent clauses ("as I'm travelling to your city"). However, control over grammar and punctuation is inconsistent. There are punctuation errors around the semi-colon use and missing punctuation at the end due to the incomplete final sentence. Grammatical control is strained in places, but communication is generally maintained for the parts that are written, supporting a band 5.0 score for grammatical range and accuracy.

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

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