Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS General Essentials · 2026-11-05

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

A family member is coming to stay with you. He/she will be arriving by train in the morning, but you won’t be home until the evening.

• explain arrangements you have made for them to have keys and get into the house

• tell your relative how to get from the train station to your house

• say when you will be home and suggest what you could do together that evening

Student answer (Band 5.5)

Dear Harry,

First of all, i am very happy and sad at the same time becasue i will not at home once to you reached at home in evening however, i will be there later that evening and i have done all the arrangements for you like i have prepared tea and some snacks for you, your bed is ready you can rest until i came home and don't forget that key of my apartment is under my shoe, you'll find easily and once to get off from train you have to take a taxi and tell him to drop you at near city mall and from there my apartment is on walking distance and my house number is 6 and its first floor.

In addition, i will be home around 6 in the evening and after that i have booked movie tickets for us we will enjoy cinema then we'll go for game zone for bowling and many other things however, i have planned our dinner at some fancy resort. i hope you would'nt mind if i will be not home once you reached home and have a safe journey.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You address all three points: you explain where the key is, give a route from the station, and say you expect to be home around six before suggesting evening activities. These details make the letter relevant and practical. The arrangements are not equally clear, however. “Under my shoe” does not specify which shoe or where it will be, and the directions via the city mall lack enough detail to make the route reliable. The evening plan is more fully developed, with a film, bowling and dinner, while the key and travel instructions could be clearer. Also explain directly that you will not be home when Harry arrives, rather than leaving this to be inferred. A more precise, complete set of arrangements would strengthen the response.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The information follows a broadly sensible order: arrival and access arrangements come first, followed by your return time and plans for the evening. The greeting and closing also help establish the letter format. However, almost all the content is placed in two very long sentences, so the reader has to work to separate the key instructions, directions and plans. Connectors such as “In addition” and “however” are used, but they do not always show the relationship between ideas clearly; for example, “however” before the dinner plan does not express a clear contrast. Use separate paragraphs for arrival arrangements and evening plans, and divide long sentences into shorter units. This would make the progression easier to follow and the key details more prominent.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use enough everyday vocabulary to communicate the main arrangements, including “train,” “taxi,” “walking distance,” “booked movie tickets” and “bowling.” There are also attempts to use more specific expressions, such as “fancy resort,” although that phrase is not a natural choice for a place to have dinner. Some word choices and spelling errors reduce precision, including “game zone,” “becasue,” and “would'nt.” “Drop you at near city mall” is also awkward phrasing, making the directions less clear. Aim for natural collocations and check spelling carefully. For example, “cinema,” “bowling alley” and “restaurant” would communicate the evening plans more precisely than the current expressions.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt to combine ideas using clauses and time expressions, as in “once you get off from train” and “after that,” so the response shows some variety beyond simple sentences. However, several sentence patterns are faulty, and the long sentences make these problems more noticeable. Examples include “I will not at home,” “once to you reached,” and “you can rest until I came home”; these need corrected verb forms and clause structures. There are also errors with articles and prepositions, such as “from train” and “on walking distance,” as well as inconsistent capitalisation of “I.” Use shorter sentences to control tense and clause structure, and check that each sentence has a complete, correctly formed verb phrase.

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

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