Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-08-22

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

You have just read an article in a national newspaper which claims that town centres in your country all look very similar to each other. You don't fully agree with this opinion.

Write a letter to the editor of the newspaper. In your letter

• say which points in the article you agree with
• explain ways in which your town centre is different from most other town centres
• offer to give a guided tour of your town to the writer of the article

You do NOT need to write any addresses.

Begin your letter as follows:

Dear Sir or Madam,

Student answer (Band 5.5)

Dear Sir,

I am writing to let you know that I read an article in a national newspaper with the claims that towns centers in my country all look very similar to each other and I don't fully agree this opinion.

I have read the article well and there is a paragraph where they mentioned about the town centers being able to care for each other. I think I would agree with you on that. This is because people value and respect another, creating bonding which is pasted down to the new generation.

There are ways in which my town center are different from most other town centers. One of the ways is we value communal living. We live and build our houses together, unlike other towns that live and build their homes on different locations. Another way is we help ourselves to growth. We value community growth more than personal growth.

Anytime the write chooses to visit the communities, I offer to give a guide tour around the centers. Looking for to your reply.

Thanks for your consideration.

Yours faithfully,

Lynda.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

You have addressed all three bullet points in the prompt, which is a positive start. However, the development of your ideas is somewhat limited. For example, when explaining how your town is different, the points about 'communal living' and 'helping ourselves to growth' are quite vague and lack specific, concrete examples that would make your argument more convincing. Additionally, your interpretation of the article's claim regarding town centres 'caring for each other' seems slightly disconnected from the context of town planning and architecture. To improve, ensure your supporting details are more specific and directly relevant to the topic of town centre appearance.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The letter is logically organized into paragraphs, and you have used basic cohesive devices such as 'One of the ways' and 'Another way' to structure your arguments. However, the flow between sentences is sometimes mechanical, and the referencing is occasionally unclear. For instance, in the second paragraph, the transition to the idea of 'bonding' feels abrupt. The use of paragraphing is appropriate for a formal letter, but the overall progression of ideas could be smoother with a more varied use of linking words and better control over paragraph structure.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

Your vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, but it lacks the range and precision required for a higher band. You rely on simple, repetitive phrasing such as 'town centers' and 'ways'. There are also some awkward collocations, such as 'pasted down to the new generation' (likely meaning 'passed down') and 'help ourselves to growth'. While your meaning is generally clear, the lack of more sophisticated or varied vocabulary limits your score in this criterion. Focusing on learning topic-specific collocations would be highly beneficial.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

You demonstrate a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors that occasionally impede the flow of reading. Examples include 'I read an article... with the claims that' (should be 'claiming that'), 'I don't fully agree this opinion' (missing 'with'), and 'the write chooses' (should be 'the writer'). Subject-verb agreement is also inconsistent, such as 'my town center are different'. While these errors do not completely prevent understanding, they are frequent enough to suggest a need for more careful proofreading and a better grasp of basic sentence construction.

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.