Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Barron's Writing · 2026-10-31

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 friend ,

I am writing this letter to let you know that I am planning the business trip to your city .This trip would be for 5- 7 days . During this time, I had two days free, so I am deciding to spend that days with you and explore whole city .I know its less days with you , but I know we will enjoy a lot . I usually listened a lot about the city and this the time to explore all the places that are know for the city .I am excepting you to take the days off from your work,so we can get a 2 full days two spend and enjoy with you.

Hope you will be very excited after listening it and you will go with better arrangements for these two days as planned things happens smoothly without any frustation. Waiting for your reply to be soon through email or phone call.

Thank you

Yours Faithfully,

Yashreet Kaur

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You establish the business-trip context and mention that you expect to have two free days, so the reader can understand why you are writing. However, the task is only partly addressed: you ask generally to “explore whole city” and refer to “all the places,” but do not clearly ask your friend for specific recommendations about sights or activities. The invitation is present, yet “spend that days with you” is vague about what you would like to do together. The purpose of the trip is also only identified as a business trip, without further explanation. Develop each bullet more directly—for example, ask which landmarks or local activities your friend recommends and invite them to a particular meal or outing. This would make your intentions clearer and more complete.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The letter has a recognisable opening, a main paragraph about the visit, and a closing that asks for a reply. The ideas are broadly related to your planned trip, but progression is not always clear: the paragraph moves from the trip’s duration to free time, then to enjoying the city, and back to asking your friend to take time off. Several ideas are joined in long sentences, making the relationships between them difficult to follow. Phrases such as “During this time” and “so” provide some linking, but connections are limited and occasionally unclear. Separate the purpose, sightseeing request, and invitation into a clearer sequence, using short paragraphs and direct questions to guide your friend through the letter.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use enough topic-related vocabulary to communicate the general situation, including “business trip,” “free,” “explore,” and “take the days off.” There are also attempts to express enthusiasm and planning. However, the range is limited, and several inaccurate or unnatural choices make parts of the message less clear, such as “I am excepting you” and “better arrangements.” Spelling and word-form errors, including “frustation,” also affect the impression of control. Aim for natural collocations and precise phrases suited to a friendly letter: for example, ask what your friend “would recommend seeing” and suggest that you “plan an outing together.” This would make the message more fluent and specific without requiring overly formal vocabulary.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt to combine ideas using clauses such as “so we can get…” and “as planned things happens…,” but these longer structures are often faulty. Errors in tense, agreement, articles, and sentence construction occur throughout: “I had two days free” does not fit the future visit, “spend that days” has incorrect agreement, and “I usually listened” uses an unsuitable tense. Punctuation and spacing also make sentence boundaries harder to identify, particularly in the opening paragraph. These errors sometimes make the intended meaning difficult to follow, even though the overall topic remains understandable. Use simpler, controlled sentences first, then add accurate clauses—for example, “I’ll have two free days, and I’d love to explore the city with you.”

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

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