Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

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

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 Mr. Louis,

I am writing this letter to say that the club is organizing an event to celebrate popular food from around the world.

I think we should offer them a famous dish from our country, e.g., poha. This would be a great dish to offer because it tastes unique, and most people like to eat this dish because it's not heavy.

Poha is a popular food all over our country; every state's people like to eat poha in breakfast.

I am confident that if we include this dish in the event, individuals will like it because of its different taste.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely,

Dilpreet kaur.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The response addresses all three bullet points: offering a dish, describing it, and explaining its inclusion. However, the response is significantly under the 150-word minimum requirement, which severely limits the development of ideas. The description of 'poha' is quite brief, and the explanation for its inclusion is repetitive, relying on general statements like 'tastes unique' and 'different taste' without providing specific sensory details or cultural context that would make the argument more persuasive. To improve, you must expand on your ideas by providing more descriptive language and a more detailed rationale for why this dish would be a success at an international event.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The letter follows a logical structure with a clear opening and closing. However, the paragraphing is insufficient; the entire body of the letter is presented as a series of short, choppy sentences. There is a lack of varied cohesive devices to link ideas smoothly. For example, the transition between the offer and the description is abrupt. Using linking words such as 'furthermore,' 'consequently,' or 'in addition to this' would help create a better flow between your sentences and paragraphs. The progression of ideas is present but feels mechanical due to the short, simple sentence structures used throughout.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is adequate for the task but remains quite basic and repetitive. Phrases like 'popular food,' 'great dish,' and 'different taste' are used, which do not demonstrate a wide range of lexical items. There is little attempt to use less common or more precise vocabulary related to food or cultural events. To reach a higher band, you should aim to incorporate more descriptive adjectives and topic-specific collocations. For instance, instead of saying 'it tastes unique,' you could describe the texture or specific ingredients to make your writing more engaging and precise.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The response consists mostly of simple sentence structures. While there are few grammatical errors, the lack of complex sentence forms limits the score. There is a minor error in the salutation ('Dear Mr. Louis' when the prompt specifies 'Dear Luis') and some awkward phrasing, such as 'every state's people like to eat.' To improve, you should practice using a mix of complex structures, such as relative clauses or conditional sentences (e.g., 'If we were to include this dish, it would likely be well-received because...'). This would demonstrate better control and variety in your grammatical range.

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

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