Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-08-23

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 would like to express my interest to get participate and cook India's famous dish in the event which is organized by an International Student's club. After comparing multiple food options, I prefer to cook Thepla.

The main ingredient of Thepla is spinach. Finely chopped spinach mixed with gram flour and filled taste with multiple spices and seeds. This dish is little spicy. The authentic way to garnish this dish with Yogurt.

Thepla can be consumed by rolling like Barito. People can grab it in event easily. It does not contain any preservative items. Moreover, It is gluten free and vegan so everyone can consume it without worrying about dietary.

I am looking forward to your approval for bringing this Indian dish for diverse group of people.

Yours faithfully,

Sahil

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The letter covers all three bullet points: offering to make a dish, describing it, and explaining its suitability. However, the response is significantly under the 150-word minimum, which limits the development of your ideas. While the purpose is clear, the brevity prevents you from fully expanding on the description of the dish or the reasons for its inclusion. To reach a higher band, you should aim to provide more descriptive detail and elaborate on your points to meet the length requirement, which will allow for a more comprehensive response to the prompt.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The letter is logically organized into clear paragraphs, each addressing a specific part of the task. You use basic cohesive devices such as 'Moreover' and 'After comparing', which help the flow of information. However, the transitions between sentences are sometimes a bit mechanical, and the overall structure feels slightly disjointed due to the short length of the paragraphs. To improve, try to use a wider variety of linking words and ensure that your sentences are more smoothly connected to create a more natural, cohesive flow throughout the letter.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'authentic', 'garnish', and 'preservative'. However, there are some inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'get participate' (should be 'participate') and 'filled taste' (should be 'flavorful' or 'rich in taste'). Additionally, 'Barito' appears to be a misspelling of 'burrito'. To improve, focus on using more precise collocations and ensure that your vocabulary is used in the correct grammatical context. Expanding your range of descriptive adjectives would also help elevate your writing.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

You use a mix of simple and some complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors that occasionally impede clarity. For example, 'I would like to express my interest to get participate' is grammatically incorrect, and 'The authentic way to garnish this dish with Yogurt' is a sentence fragment missing a verb. There are also issues with article usage ('in event' instead of 'in the event') and prepositional phrases. To improve, focus on subject-verb agreement and sentence completeness. Reviewing basic sentence construction will help you produce more error-free sentences.

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

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