Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-09-22

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 a letter regarding article which claim that all town centre of my nations look similar.but i am not totally agree with your statement.

Although mojority of town centre have lots of facilities including restaruants, cafe, banks, garment stores but the town centre of my area has cinema which called cineplex cinema which is located in payal business centre.

Moreover, this area is less crowded then other town centre such as metro town and surrey centeral town.Furthermore, my town centre is smaller than others. Apart from these,people can buy clothes, shoes and grosery at low price in my area,while the cost of this things more in pacific centre.Moving further, my town centre is quiet and traditional however, other are more modern and attractive.

I want to invite you to come in my area i will guide you about our town centre. Owing to this, you can see what is the difference between this centre and other town centres.

I am waiting for your response.

Your sincerely,

Veerpal Kaur.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response successfully covers all the bullet points outlined in the task instructions. You begin by stating which points you agree with, noting that town centres generally share common facilities like restaurants and banks. You then effectively explain how your local town centre differs by highlighting specific features such as the cineplex cinema, smaller overall size, and lower prices compared to other areas like the pacific centre. Finally, you successfully offer to give a guided tour to the writer of the article. Your position is clear throughout, and the ideas are relevant, though some points like the description of the local prices could be slightly more extended. Overall, the task purpose is fully achieved, aligning well with the Band 6 descriptors.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

Your letter has an overall coherent arrangement, and the progression of ideas is generally easy to follow. You use some transitional cohesive devices such as 'Moreover', 'Furthermore', and 'Apart from these' to link your sentences and paragraphs together. However, paragraphing could be managed more effectively, as the second paragraph contains several distinct ideas that would be better split into separate paragraphs for clarity. Additionally, referencing is occasionally a bit mechanical or repetitive, such as 'my town centre' and 'other town centres' used frequently in close proximity. Despite these minor issues, the progression of ideas remains logical throughout, fitting the Band 6 criteria.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully using terms like 'facilities', 'traditional', and 'crowded'. However, there are noticeable spelling and word choice inaccuracies throughout the text, such as 'claim' instead of 'claims', 'centre' instead of 'centres', 'mojority' instead of 'majority', 'restaruants' instead of 'restaurants', and 'grosery' instead of 'groceries'. Furthermore, you attempt some less common lexical items, but occasional errors in word formation and collocation persist. These vocabulary and spelling errors do not impede overall communication, but they restrict your score to a Band 5.5, reflecting a mix of adequate and limited lexical control.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, attempting connectors like 'Although' and 'while' to vary your syntax. However, there are frequent grammatical errors in punctuation, capitalization, and articles. For example, sentences often lack proper capitalization at the beginning or after periods, and there are phrasing errors such as 'not totally agree' instead of 'do not totally agree' and 'cost of this things more' instead of 'the cost of these things is higher'. Punctuation around clauses is also occasionally weak. While these errors do not impede overall understanding of your letter, their frequency prevents you from achieving a higher band score, placing your performance firmly within the Band 5 descriptor range.

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

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