Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-09-18

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

You work for an entertainment company which plans to open a new theatre soon. You want to invite a famous actor to open the new theatre.

Write a letter to this famous actor. In your letter

• give some information about the new theatre

• invite her/him to open the new theatre

• explain why she/he would be a good person to open the theatre

You do NOT need to write any addresses.

Begin your letter as follows:
Dear........,

Student answer (Band 5.0)

Dear Sir or Madam,

I am writing a letter to ask for your help about finding my jacket which I forgot in the movie theatre. I visited your theatre saturday evening to watch movie with my friend. The colour of my jacket is black and it have two side pockets . The size of my jacket is medium and it have silver zip in the front. There is also a wallet in the inside pocket of my jacket. In the wallet my cards and my identification is available. There is also a white tag in the left side of the jacket.

I was seated in Row G, seat no. 9 which is located in the left side of the cinema. I remember taking off my jacket during movie time and i placing it at the back side of my seat. Unfortunately, I forgot to take it with me when the movie was end.

I would be really greatful if you found and check my lost item in your theatre. Please ask a member of staff to check my jacket in the theatre around seat 9. If you found my jacket, please keep it safe for me. I can come to the theatre at any convenient time to pick up my jacket.

I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Yours sincerely,

Crissa Chen

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 3.0

The student has written a well-structured response, but there is a major issue with task relevance. The prompt specifically asks the writer to act as an employee of an entertainment company inviting a famous actor to open a new theatre, providing information about it, and explaining why they are a good person for the job. However, the student wrote a completely different letter—complaining about a lost jacket in a movie theatre. Because the response addresses a totally incorrect prompt, it fails to meet the core requirements of the task. Although the details provided about the jacket and its location (e.g., 'Row G, seat no. 9') are clear, the content is off-topic for the assigned task. Consequently, this leads to a low band score under Task Achievement due to missing all required bullet points.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

Despite the off-topic content, the letter demonstrates a clear overall structure and logical progression. The student uses paragraphing effectively to separate the description of the item, the location of the loss, and the concluding request. Cohesive devices such as 'Unfortunately', 'If you found', and 'I look forward to' are used reasonably well to link ideas and guide the reader. However, referencing is sometimes repetitive, with excessive reliance on phrases like 'my jacket' in close proximity. Paragraphing is generally appropriate for a formal letter format, and ideas within the paragraphs flow logically from one point to the next, representing a coherent attempt at letter-writing.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is adequate for basic communication, but it lacks the range and precision expected for higher bands. The student relies heavily on simple, repetitive terms such as 'jacket', 'movie theatre', and 'seat'. There are basic descriptive words like 'black', 'medium', and 'silver', but attempts at less common vocabulary are absent. Some word choices are unnatural, such as 'take it with me when the movie was end' instead of 'when the movie ended'. While communication is not impeded and the descriptions are clear enough for the reader to understand, the lexical range remains limited and basic throughout the text.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The student demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, though accuracy is inconsistent. There are several grammatical errors and awkward constructions, such as 'I am writing a letter to ask for your help about finding my jacket' (preposition error: 'help with finding'), 'it have two side pockets' (subject-verb agreement: 'it has'), and 'i placing it' (tense error). Punctuation is generally acceptable, but capitalization errors occur, such as the lowercase 'i' in 'i placing'. While these errors do not completely obscure the message, they are frequent enough to prevent the writing from achieving a higher band score.

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

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