Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-09-18
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)
Hello Rahul,
I hope you’re doing well.
Today, in my spare time i was reading newspaper and in the very front page i read the article which describes that in my country all the town centres looks similar to each other written by you.
First of all, I know everyone has a different view and opinions to think about a perfect town.But As you mentioned in the article all the residential properties and schools structures looks similar every where which i am not fully agree with it as in every corner i visited they have some uniqueness. Also the shopping malls are fantastic then other countries have in point of facilitation they provide.
So after reading your article i would like to visit my town to take a guidance from me to visit my town through my eyes to change your thoughts about my town. We can make plan on our convinince if you would like.i will wait for reply.
Thank you ☺️
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 6.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0
The candidate has addressed all parts of the task prompt reasonably well, though the tone and structure show significant lapses in convention. The opening greeting does not match the prompt's instruction to begin with 'Dear Sir or Madam,' and addresses 'Rahul' instead, which affects the letter format. However, the student successfully identifies which points in the article they agree with, explains specific ways their town centre differs from others, and offers to give a guided tour to the writer. Ideas are present and generally relevant, though they lack full development and precise articulation. While the response meets the minimum length requirement, the execution of the letter format and task requirements aligns best with Band 5.5 to 6.0 descriptors.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0
The letter is organised into paragraphs, but the logical progression and cohesive devices are frequently faulty or mechanical. The transitions between ideas, such as 'So after reading your article i would like to visit my town...', are awkward and create confusion regarding who is visiting whom. Paragraphing is attempted, but sentence-to-sentence connections lack fluency. Referencing is sometimes unclear, particularly with pronouns and prepositional phrases. Overall, the arrangement provides some basic structure, but it struggles with smooth logical flow, positioning the response firmly at Band 5.0.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.0
The vocabulary used is relatively basic and repetitive, representing a limited but minimally adequate range for the task. Words such as 'fantastic', 'different', and 'unique' are used simply. There are noticeable errors in word choice, collocation, and phrasing, such as 'in point of facilitation they provide' and 'take a guidance from me'. Spelling errors also appear, including 'convinince' instead of 'convenience' and lowercase 'i' pronouns. These lexical limitations and errors cause some difficulty for the reader at times, corresponding to Band 5.0.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but many of the complex attempts contain grammatical errors and faulty phrasing, such as 'which describes that in my country all the town centres looks similar to each other written by you.' Punctuation and capitalization are weak throughout the text (e.g., lowercase 'i', missing punctuation before conjunctions, and run-on phrasing). While communication is generally maintained despite frequent errors in agreement and tense, the high frequency of grammatical slips keeps the performance at a Band 5.0.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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