Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS General Essentials · 2026-10-29

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 Rajan,

I hope you are doing splendidly! I am so excited to see you. It's been absolute ages since we caught up! Hope your packing and preparation going well.

I am literally counting a day to meet you. Moreover, you are travelling in Go train from Toronto to London, on saturday.

I will give a key to my neighbour. you can borrow from flat number 203. Apart from this, I will give him our housekeys in advance so you can get into the house and freshen up and have some rest.

Regrettably, I am informing you that I will not be able to come and pick you up from train station. Thus, I make some arrangements for your pick up from station and one of my friend will drop you home that morning.

Once you will reach there you can take shower, and eat something. I will probably make something that morning. Moreover, I will be home by 7 PM and we can go to our favourite restaurant for dinner. we are going to have a fun.

We will catch up soon! Have a happy and safe journery.

Best regards,

Maitri

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You address the main situation and include arrangements for entry, travel from the station, your return time, and an evening plan. The key arrangement is partly unclear, however: “I will give a key to my neighbour” is followed by “you can borrow from flat number 203,” so the reader may not know exactly where to collect it or whether the neighbour will be there. The route from the station is also not explained; instead, you say a friend will pick Rajan up and drive him home. This is a relevant alternative, but it does not fully answer how he can get to the house. Develop these practical details more clearly and consistently, and explain the evening plan with a little more detail.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The letter follows a generally sensible order: greeting, travel and key arrangements, arrival, and plans for the evening. Paragraph breaks help separate these topics, and the friendly closing suits the purpose. However, some linking words feel mechanical or do not show a clear relationship between ideas. For example, “Moreover” appears before the travel detail and again before the evening plan, while “Thus” introduces the pickup arrangement without making the connection especially clear. The key instructions also move from a neighbour to “flat number 203” and then to giving “him” the keys, which weakens the progression. Use fewer, more precise connectors and keep each set of instructions in a clear sequence.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range for a friendly personal letter, including expressions such as “catch up,” “freshen up,” and “favourite restaurant,” which help establish an informal tone. There are also attempts at more expressive language, such as “doing splendidly” and “literally counting a day,” but these are not always natural in context. Some word choices and collocations are inaccurate, including “make some arrangements for your pick up” and “have a fun”; “journey” is also misspelled as “journery.” These slips do not prevent the reader from understanding the message, but more natural phrasing would improve precision. Choose familiar, accurate expressions rather than forcing elaborate wording.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt a mix of simple and more complex sentences, and the message is generally understandable. Some grammatical errors remain, particularly in verb forms and sentence construction. For example, “Hope your packing and preparation going well” needs a finite verb, while “Once you will reach there” uses an unsuitable future form after “once.” “I will probably make something that morning” also conflicts with the later plan to be home by 7 PM, making the time reference unclear. Capitalisation and punctuation need attention in “you can borrow” and “we are going to have a fun.” Review tense choices, subject–verb structure, and sentence boundaries, then proofread for consistent capital letters and punctuation.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.