Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-09-15

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

Write a letter to the manager of the hotel. In your letter

• say where you think you left the papers
• explain why they are so important
• tell the manager what you want him/her to do

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 this letter to you as i visited last weekend on 6th september at your hotel. Unfortunately, i forgot to collect my important papers from hotel room which i stayed. It was in locker, and it is in black plastic file it is very crucial documents related to my work. It is my office file which include with my meeting details and some personal details of my clients as well as these documents are confidential for my and my job's safety.

Also, i need these papers urgent as i have meeting on 9th September. In this letter, i am requesting you if you or your hotel team found this documents please mail it at my given address as soon as possible, so i can attend my meeting with these papers. Otherwise, i will loose my job. I will be very thankful to you or your team if i receive documents before my meeting deadline.

Thanks,

john

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The student successfully covers all three bullet points required by the prompt. First, the writer specifies where the papers were left by stating, 'It was in locker, and it is in black plastic file'. Second, the explanation of importance is clearly stated, noting that the documents are 'very crucial documents related to my work' and 'confidential for my and my job's safety'. Third, the required action is explicitly given: 'please mail it at my given address as soon as possible'. The tone is appropriate for a formal letter to a hotel manager, although the expression is somewhat direct. All parts of the task are adequately addressed, earning a solid band 6.0.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The letter has a coherent overall arrangement and is divided into logical paragraphs separating the situation from the request and consequences. However, cohesion is sometimes faulty or mechanical. The student relies on basic connectors like 'Also' and repetitive pronouns such as 'It is' and 'It is my office file which include with my meeting details'. Referencing is occasionally confusing, as seen in the pronoun shift from 'my' to 'my and my job's safety'. Paragraphing is present, but overall transitions between ideas lack sophistication, placing this criterion at band 6.0.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, including functional terms such as 'confidential', 'meeting details', and 'deadline'. However, there are notable word choice and collocation errors, such as 'urgent' used as an adverb instead of 'urgently', 'loose' instead of 'lose', and 'include with' instead of 'include' or 'are included in'. The student attempts less common vocabulary like 'confidential' and 'crucial', but inaccuracies in spelling and derivation persist. This performance aligns well with the band 5.5 descriptors.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The student uses a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as relative clauses in 'papers from hotel room which i stayed' and conditional structures like 'Otherwise, i will loose my job'. However, there are frequent grammatical and punctuation errors throughout the text, including lowercase 'i', missing articles ('in locker', 'at hotel'), incorrect prepositions ('at your hotel' instead of 'in'), and subject-verb agreement issues ('this documents please mail it'). While communication is not heavily impeded, these frequent errors restrict the score to a band 5.0.

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

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