Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS General Essentials · 2026-11-13

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 sister,

I hope everything is well with you. I heard that you are coming here to stay with me. I am very exciting to see you.

Unfortunately, I would not available to pick-up you from the station because I will go outside the city and back home in evening. But you don't worry I told my friend hiya to pick-up you from the station and drop you at our home. One more things, I have put the home key at neighbour aunty Mrs. Patel. She is very good in nature. I have put the key at her home so please collect. I have also prepare the snacks and juices for you. Please take snacks and juice from the refrigerator. Do whatever you want to do.

I would come back at evening. We can spend evening together. We can watch the comedy movie with your favourite popcorn.Then we will go for the dinner at your favourite restaurant. After that we will eat ice-cream at your favourite icecream shop.

Take care. See you soon.

Best wishes,

Riya Modi

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

The letter covers the main practical points: your friend Hiya will collect your sister, the key is with Mrs Patel, and you suggest several evening activities. These details make the message relevant and generally understandable. However, the route from the station to the house is not explained; saying that Hiya will take her there does not tell your sister how to travel if plans change or what to expect. The timing is also vague: “back home in evening” and “I would come back at evening” do not give a clear arrival time. The arrangements and evening plans are listed but not developed with useful specifics, so some parts of the task are addressed less fully than others. Add directions and a definite time to make the letter more complete.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The message has a clear overall sequence: greeting, arrival and key arrangements, evening plans, and a closing. Paragraph breaks help separate these stages, and linking words such as “But,” “One more things,” and “After that” show how details relate. The progression is mostly easy to follow, although some connections feel mechanical or unclear. For example, “But you don't worry” shifts abruptly from the reason you cannot meet her to the alternative arrangement, and “I have put the key at her home so please collect” could identify more clearly who to ask and when. The evening activities are presented as a chain of short statements. Use smoother transitions and clearer references to make the relationships between arrangements more natural.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use enough everyday vocabulary to communicate the purpose of the letter, including “pick-up,” “neighbour,” “refrigerator,” “comedy movie,” and “favourite restaurant.” The tone is friendly and appropriate for a family member. However, several word choices or combinations are inaccurate or unnatural, such as “I am very exciting,” “good in nature,” and “eat ice-cream at your favourite icecream shop.” “Do whatever you want to do” is also vague in this context. These choices do not prevent the reader from understanding the main message, but they limit precision and naturalness. Build a wider set of familiar phrases for making arrangements and describing plans, and check word forms, spelling, and collocations before sending the letter.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The letter uses mostly short, direct sentences, with some attempts to connect ideas using “because,” “so,” and “after that.” This gives the message a basic range of structures, and the main meaning is usually clear. Some grammatical errors remain, however. For example, “I would not available” needs a verb after “would,” while “I would come back at evening” uses an awkward tense and time expression. In “I have also prepare the snacks,” the verb form does not match the present perfect. There are also errors in sentence construction and punctuation, such as “I heard that you are coming here to stay with me” followed by an extra space, and “popcorn.Then” without a space. Practise accurate verb forms and expand sentence patterns while keeping them controlled.

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

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