Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS General Essentials · 2026-10-04
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)
Hi James,
I'm writing to inform you that I need go office for an urgent meeting. unfortunattly, I'll be not available to pick you up from railway station.
I want to let you know I'm leaving the keys at gardhouse at front of the building. when you arrive just ask the watchguard to get keys for 124 unit and say my name Jaspreet. The name is Raj Das, he is regular and knows be well.
When you arrive at jalandhar cantt railway stop, leave me text on my number [redacted phone]. I'll get send my driver to pick you up from railway station. I'll share his phone number, hence you guys can contact and find each other location.
I'll get free from my meeting around 5pm. After coming home I'll take you to ours favourite rastaurant, dawat-e-bari and might couple of our school friends gel up tonight. If not we will plan reunion on other day.
Have a safe journey, and enjoy you solo trip.
See you tonight
Best wishes
Jaspreet
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0
The response addresses the prompt only partially, which places it at this level. While you successfully mention arrangements for the keys, tell your relative how to get from the station, and state when you will be home with a suggestion for the evening, some ideas remain limited and under-developed. For instance, the instructions regarding the guardhouse and the driver contain contradictory or slightly confusing details about how James will actually reach the house. Furthermore, the tone is generally appropriate for a semi-formal letter to a family member, but the overall development of your points lacks clarity in places, preventing a higher score.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0
The letter displays a coherent overall arrangement with a clear sequence of events, allowing the reader to follow the timeline of James's arrival and your return. Paragraphing is used adequately to separate the different topics, such as the keys, transportation, and evening plans. However, cohesion is sometimes mechanical or faulty. For example, transition words and referencing are occasionally unclear or repetitive, such as the abrupt shifts between sentences when discussing the driver and the restaurant plans. To reach higher bands, you would need to ensure smoother transitions between sentences and more precise referencing throughout.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.5
Your vocabulary is adequate for the task, successfully conveying everyday information using common words and phrases. You attempt some less-common vocabulary, such as 'reunion' and 'watchguard', but these are accompanied by noticeable errors in spelling, word choice, and word form. Words like 'unfortunattly', 'gardhouse', and 'rastaurant' contain spelling mistakes, while phrases like 'get free' or 'gel up' lack precision and natural collocation. These lexical errors do not completely impede communication, but they restrict your score because they highlight a limited and sometimes inaccurate control of vocabulary.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0
The writing relies on a limited range of sentence structures, primarily mixing simple sentences with basic compound forms. When you attempt more complex structures, they are often faulty. There are frequent grammatical errors involving verb forms, auxiliary verbs, and prepositions, such as 'I need go office', 'I'll be not available', and 'knows be well'. Additionally, punctuation and article use show frequent lapses throughout the text. These frequent errors cause some difficulty for the reader and reflect a pattern of instability in basic and intermediate grammatical structures.
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