Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-11-02

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 am writing this letter because I am an international students' club member and my club is organising an event to celebrate popular food from around the world.

I would like to offer a popular dish from my country which is Halwa that is made during festivals and religious activities. Halwa is recognised one of the most favourite dish for all.

Halwa is a sweet dish which people make it from scratch, it is the most important and liked dish. In indian culture, festivals or any event is incomplete without this dish. It signifies our indian root and completes our culture.

I believe that Halwa should be included in our event because of its great significance and people from around the world would be able to exprience this as well. I would be able to deliver my point of view to other people about this dish and I think people would love to taste this as well.

Best Regards,

Jenny

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You address all three requested points: you offer to make halwa, describe it as a sweet dish, and explain its cultural importance and appeal to international guests. However, the description remains general: the reader is not told what ingredients it contains or how it is typically served. The reason for including it is also repeated rather than developed with a specific example of what visitors could learn or experience. The response contains 149 words, so it falls one word short of the required minimum; the 13 words copied from the task prompt are not counted. Adding a little detail about the dish and its value to the event would make the response more complete.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The letter has a clear basic structure, with an opening, separate paragraphs about the dish and its significance, and a closing. This makes the main purpose easy to identify. However, progression within the paragraphs is limited: the ideas that halwa is a favourite, important, liked, and culturally significant overlap, so the middle section feels repetitive rather than steadily developing. The final paragraph also repeats that people would enjoy tasting it without adding a distinct supporting point. Use clearer sequencing—for example, introduce the dish, explain its ingredients or preparation, then connect its cultural role to the event—and use references such as “this traditional dessert” to avoid repeating “dish.”

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant vocabulary for the topic, including “festivals,” “religious activities,” “significance,” and “culture,” and the meaning is generally understandable. However, the range is limited, with “dish,” “people,” and “event” repeated, and some expressions are not natural or precise, such as “recognised one of the most favourite dish” and “deliver my point of view.” There are also spelling and capitalisation slips, including “exprience” and “indian.” To strengthen your vocabulary, use more specific food terms and natural collocations, such as “traditional dessert,” “served during celebrations,” and “introduce its cultural significance.” This would make the letter more fluent and precise.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and longer sentence forms, and the reader can follow the main message. However, errors in sentence construction and agreement occur often enough to make some sentences awkward. For example, “Halwa is recognised one of the most favourite dish” needs a linking verb and a plural noun, while “people make it from scratch” uses an unnecessary object pronoun after “make.” The sentence beginning “Halwa is a sweet dish…” also joins two independent ideas with only a comma. Practise accurate relative clauses and sentence boundaries, such as “Halwa is a sweet dish that is made from scratch” and “It is especially popular during festivals.”

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

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