Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-09-17

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 6.5)

Dear Sir or Madam,

I am writing to inquire about some important papers, which I forgot during checkout, this morning. I believe I forgot those papers in room 202, where I checked in. Papers were kept in a brown file, probably inside the locker in wooden almirah. Those papers are very important to me, as those include my immigration information and work permit too. At midnight, I have a flight back to Ontario. I kindly request you to keep those paper safe with you and hand it over to my brother. My brother lives in same city, so he will be there around 9 pm. Additionally, I have provided my ID card to help with verification. Please inform your staff or keep papers with front desk, so he can easily grab and give those papers back to me. I will be so thankful to you for your help and feeling sorry for the inconvinience.

Best Regards,

Simran

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

Simran, you successfully address all three bullet points required in the prompt. You clearly state where you believe you left the papers (in room 202 inside a brown file in a wooden almirah), you explain why they are important (they include your immigration information and work permit), and you tell the manager what you want them to do (keep them safe and hand them over to your brother at 9 pm). Your tone is appropriate for a formal letter to a hotel manager, and the message is fully communicated. To achieve a higher band, the explanation of the papers' importance could be slightly more expanded, but overall all aspects of the task are well covered.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

Your letter has a clear logical progression and covers each requirement in a natural order. You use some cohesive devices such as 'Additionally' and 'so', though the paragraphing is quite compact. The entire body is written as a single block of text below the salutation, which affects the visual organization of the letter. Breaking your thoughts into distinct paragraphs—one for the location of the papers, one for their importance, and one for the action requested—would significantly improve the structural clarity and coherence of your writing.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully using terms like 'inquire', 'verification', and 'inconvenience'. However, there are some unnatural word choices and collocations. For example, using 'forgot' instead of 'left' (e.g., 'which I forgot during checkout'), and using the word 'almirah', which is region-specific and less understood in international English (a 'wardrobe' or 'cupboard' would be more standard). There are also minor lexical awkwardnesses such as 'grab and give those papers back'.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

You demonstrate a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as 'I am writing to inquire about some important papers, which I forgot during checkout, this morning.' However, there are several grammatical inaccuracies and punctuation errors throughout your response. For instance, commas are sometimes misused (e.g., 'papers, which I forgot', 'safe with you and hand it over'), and there are minor preposition or article issues like 'keep those paper safe' instead of 'papers', and 'in same city' instead of 'in the same city'. Despite these errors, communication is never impeded.

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

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