Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-09-13

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 6.5)

Dear Luis,

I am writing to inform you about my intentions to prepare a popular dish from my country. I am from the south-eastern part of Nigerian and we are famous with our native soup called Oha soup. it is prepared from a local leaves known as oha, which has an distinctive smell. Other ingredients like cocoyam, palm-oil, stock-fish, seasoning and assorted meats. The meats should be well seasoned and boiled for at least 10-minutes, then boil and pound the cocoyam to a paste. Add the paste to the boiling meat stock, pour your palm-oil and leave it to simmer for 4-minutes and start shredding the Oha leaves, this should be done with hands as the nutrients will be removed when knife is being used. Serve this with any swallow of your choice like Garri, Fufu or Amala.

This cuisine should included because it represents the country traditions and culture and it is well known in other part of Africa.

Thank you, I hope my request is considered.

Yours sincerely

Ajawara Chidimma

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

The candidate has successfully covered all parts of the task prompt. First, the writer clearly offers to make a popular dish by stating, 'I am writing to inform you about my intentions to prepare a popular dish from my country.' Second, the dish is described in detail, including its name (Oha soup), ingredients like cocoyam and palm oil, and preparation steps. Finally, the writer explains why it should be included, noting that 'it represents the country traditions and culture and it is well known in other part of Africa.' All bullet points are appropriately addressed with relevant and extended ideas, fully satisfying the task requirements.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The letter maintains a clear overall progression from the opening statement to the description of the dish, its recipe, and the closing request. However, paragraphing is somewhat neglected; the main body of the letter is condensed into a single dense block of text rather than being broken down into logical paragraphs for the introduction, recipe description, and justification. Cohesive devices are generally used appropriately, such as 'Other ingredients like...' and 'Serve this with...', though referencing and transitions between steps in the recipe feel slightly mechanical and run-on in places. Overall, logical organisation is evident, but the lack of paragraphing pulls the score down to this level.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The candidate demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary suitable for the task, successfully introducing specific cultural and culinary terms such as 'stock-fish', 'assorted meats', and 'swallow'. There are, however, some lexical and collocation errors, such as writing 'Nigerian' instead of 'Nigeria' ('south-eastern part of Nigerian'), 'famous with' instead of 'famous for', and 'an distinctive' instead of 'a distinctive'. While these errors do not impede communication, they reflect a Band 6 level where vocabulary is functional and attempts at less common items are occasionally inaccurate.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The student uses a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as conditional or participial clauses like 'as the nutrients will be removed when knife is being used.' There are several grammatical errors present, including missing articles ('when knife is being used' instead of 'when a knife is used'), pluralization issues ('other part' instead of 'other parts'), and punctuation or fragment slips (e.g., 'Other ingredients like cocoyam, palm-oil, stock-fish, seasoning and assorted meats.' lacks a main verb). Despite these errors, meaning is generally clear and communication is rarely impeded, placing the response solidly in the Band 6 category.

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

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