Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-10-10

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 or madam,

I am writting this letter to you told about your recent article on our town , but in your magazine you written that the many city centres are likely same ,which is not correct .

The passage describing location of centre . likewise, you said it is surrounde by highrise buildings . along, with that you mentioned the architechure as well as materials that were used during the construction of Gauildford Mall .All these statements written in your article was correct .

The one passage which claims the message that our town is same as other town centres is a false statement, another than that you can say that our town is unique from other's . Mostly in other town areas there are no nearby library and colleges . which makes our most special .

The other significant factor which is commuting transport service and its available on holidays as well. All these factors which are stated above make the gauildford town different from other's.

I am pleaesd to offer a tour guide of our town by my side . If you are available at this weekend feel free to mail me at [redacted email]. Looking towards your response

Kind regards ,

Joseph

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You address all three requirements: you identify parts of the article you consider accurate, challenge its claim that towns are alike, and invite the writer to visit. The examples of nearby libraries and colleges and holiday transport give your disagreement some relevant support. However, the points you agree with are difficult to identify precisely: “The passage describing location of centre” is incomplete, and the reference to the mall’s architecture and materials is not clearly connected to what the article said. The differences are also asserted rather than fully explained, so the reader may not understand what makes Guildford distinctive. Develop each point with a clear, specific detail and make your position explicit from the outset.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The letter has a recognisable overall structure: an opening response, a paragraph about the article, an explanation of differences, and a closing invitation. This makes the main purpose possible to follow. However, some links between ideas are unclear or mechanical. For example, “along, with that” and “another than that” do not accurately show the relationship between the points, while “All these factors” refers back to several ideas without clearly grouping them. The paragraph beginning “The one passage” also combines your disagreement with a broad comparison of other towns. Use clearer topic sentences and connect each example directly to the point it supports; this would make the progression easier to follow without changing the basic structure.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some vocabulary relevant to the topic, including “architecture,” “construction,” “commuting transport service,” and “guided tour,” and the reader can generally understand your intended message. However, spelling and word-choice errors are noticeable and sometimes make the meaning less clear. Examples include “writting,” “surrounde,” “architechure,” and “Gauildford,” as well as the unnatural phrase “unique from other's.” Some expressions, such as “the passage claims the message,” do not fit their context. Build accuracy by checking spelling and learning common collocations for describing places and responding to an article. Prefer precise phrases such as “town centre,” “public transport,” and “stands out from other towns” over less natural combinations.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, including the relative clause in “which makes our most special” and the conditional invitation “If you are available at this weekend.” However, some grammatical errors affect clarity. For instance, “you written” needs an auxiliary verb, and “All these statements written in your article was correct” has problems with both sentence structure and subject–verb agreement. Several sentence fragments also appear, such as “The passage describing location of centre” and “which makes our most special.” Review verb forms, articles, agreement, and complete sentence construction. More accurate control of these patterns, alongside your attempts to vary sentence structure, would make the letter clearer and more polished.

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

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