Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-08-11

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

You are a member of an International Students' club. The club is organising an event to celebrate popular food from around the world.

Write a letter to the event organiser, Luis. In your letter

• offer to make a popular dish from your country
• describe what this dish is
• explain why it should be included in the event

You do NOT need to write any addresses.

Begin your letter as follows:

Dear Luis,

Student answer (Band 5.5)

Dear Luis,

I hope you're doing well.

I am writing in connection with organising an event to celebrate popular food around the world. I would like to explain the situation. Next month, World Food Day is coming, which is substantially celebrated around the world. These kinds of days are happening to know each other from different cultures and foods. Also, exchange the original stories behind the food. As an international student, I have been interacting with people from multiple countries at my workplace and university.

For this reason, our student club is considering organizing a food event at the university for university students and local communities. I was wondering if you could help me by organizing this event on a large scale. This would not only help me to organize a food event but also increase my chance to learn new skills as a student.

If possible, I would also suggest food at the event from India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, China and France because the majority of international students come from these countries. In this way, international students would feel at home far away from home, and the local community would learn about new food. I believe this would be beneficial for everyone involved.

Thank you for your time and consideration. I look forward to hearing back from you soon.

Yours sincerely,

Anjali

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 4.0

The response fails to address the core requirements of the prompt. While you mention the event, you do not offer to make a specific dish, nor do you describe a dish or explain why it should be included. Instead, the letter focuses on general suggestions for the event and asks the recipient to help you organize it. The prompt specifically asked you to contribute a dish from your country, which is missing entirely. Consequently, the task is only partially addressed, as the key bullet points were ignored in favor of a general discussion about the event's logistics.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The letter is organized into clear paragraphs, and there is a logical progression of ideas. You use some cohesive devices such as 'For this reason' and 'In this way' to connect your thoughts. However, the transition between the opening and the body paragraphs is slightly abrupt, and the overall flow is hampered by the fact that the content does not directly answer the prompt's specific requirements. Despite the lack of relevance to the task instructions, the internal structure of the paragraphs is coherent and easy to follow.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using phrases like 'substantially celebrated', 'interacting with people', and 'beneficial for everyone involved'. There are some minor inaccuracies in word choice, such as 'These kinds of days are happening to know each other', which is slightly unnatural. While you attempt to use some less common vocabulary, the lack of specific food-related terminology—which would have been expected given the prompt—limits the range of your lexical resource. The vocabulary used is sufficient to convey your meaning clearly.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as 'This would not only help me to organize a food event but also increase my chance to learn new skills'. There are some grammatical errors, such as 'These kinds of days are happening to know each other' (which should be 'are held to help us get to know each other') and 'I would also suggest food at the event from India' (which is slightly awkward phrasing). However, these errors do not impede communication, and your control of basic grammar is generally sound.

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

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