Band 8.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 8.0 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-10-21

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 8.0)

Dear Luis,

I am writing to express my strong interest in the upcoming global food festival organized by our International Students' Club. As a proud member, I would like to offer to prepare a traditional Indian dish, Chicken Biryani for the event.

Biryani is the festive and aromatic rice dish made with long-grain basmati rice, tender pieces of chicken marinated in yogurt and some aromatic spices, and slow cooked with saffron and mint. It is layered and cooked in a sealed pot to lock in the rich flavors.

I believed this dish should be included because it represents the heart of Indian culinary heritage and is a crowd favorite at crowd gatherings. Furthermore, since our club has a diverse group of members who appreciate rich and savory flavors, sharing a warm pot of biryani will offer everyone an authentic taste and traditional South

Asian hospitality.

I look forward to hearing from you regarding the setup and timing.

Best regards,

Amreen

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 8.5

The letter covers all three requested points clearly: you offer to prepare Chicken Biryani, explain its ingredients and cooking method, and give reasons for including it. The description is specific, particularly the details about basmati rice, marinated chicken, saffron, mint, and cooking in a sealed pot. Your explanation that it represents Indian culinary heritage and offers a taste of South Asian hospitality also supports your proposal well. The purpose and tone are appropriate for writing to an event organiser, and the closing naturally invites a response about arrangements. To make the case even more fully developed, you could add a practical detail, such as how many people the dish could serve or how it could accommodate different dietary preferences.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 8.0

The letter is organised effectively into a clear opening, a description of the dish, reasons for including it, and a polite closing. This sequence makes the purpose easy to follow, while phrases such as “Furthermore” and “I look forward to hearing from you” help connect the ideas and maintain the letter format. Paragraphing is appropriate and each paragraph has a distinct function. A small amount of editing would make the flow smoother: the repeated wording in “a crowd favorite at crowd gatherings” interrupts an otherwise polished explanation, and the extra spacing in “represents the heart” is distracting. Overall, the progression is logical and cohesion is well managed.

Lexical Resource: Band 7.5

You use a good range of topic-specific vocabulary, including “festive and aromatic,” “long-grain basmati rice,” “marinated,” “layered,” and “culinary heritage.” These choices make the dish vivid and show awareness of an appropriately warm, formal tone. Some phrasing is less natural or repetitive: “a crowd favorite at crowd gatherings” repeats the same idea, and “rich and savory flavors” is broad compared with the precise food description elsewhere. “Traditional Indian dish” and “authentic taste” are clear, though familiar expressions. Aim for more precise collocations and avoid repeating key words; for example, describe the dish as popular at celebrations and specify the range of flavours or its cultural significance.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 7.5

The response includes a useful mix of sentence forms, including the relative clause in “pieces of chicken marinated in yogurt” and the purpose phrase “to lock in the rich flavors.” Most sentences are clear and controlled, and the letter’s punctuation and paragraphing support readability. A few grammatical slips remain. In “I believed this dish should be included,” the past-tense verb does not fit the present recommendation; use “I believe.” The opening description would also be more accurate as “Biryani is a festive and aromatic rice dish,” with an article before the coordinated adjectives. Review verb tense and article use, while continuing to use varied sentence structures; these small corrections would make the writing more consistently accurate.

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