Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-10-06

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 5.0)

Dear sir

Im writing to ask for your assistance to finding my documents which is left at your hotel.

I stayed at your hotel last weekend and think I forgot my important documents in the left side drawer of the bed. They were be in blue folder.

There papers are important because they contain my educational and personal documents. Which i need the most please ask from your lost and found department. And room service staff.

I would be very grateful to you to finding my documents.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.0

Your response responds to the task only minimally, and most importantly, the length requirement is not met as your letter is well under the required minimum word count. While you touch upon all three bullet points by mentioning where you think you left the papers, explaining why they are important, and telling the manager what to do, these ideas are extremely limited and under-developed. For example, you state that the papers contain your educational and personal documents, but you do not elaborate on what specific documents they are or why they are critical. To reach a higher level, you must fully develop all parts of the task with extended explanations and meet the minimum word count of one hundred and fifty words.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

There is some basic organisation in your letter, as you begin with a standard greeting and separate your ideas into short paragraphs. However, there is no clear overall progression, and your paragraphing and layout are somewhat disjointed. You attempt to use basic cohesive devices, but your referencing is not always clear, such as in the sentence 'There papers are important because...', where the connection between sentences is weak. Furthermore, punctuation errors and fragmented sentences interrupt the flow of reading. To improve, you need to ensure that your ideas flow logically from one to the next using appropriate and accurate linking words, and structure your letter into coherent, well-linked paragraphs.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

Your vocabulary is limited and minimally adequate for the task. You attempt to use some standard phrases such as 'ask for your assistance' and 'lost and found department', but you also make noticeable word choice, word form, and spelling errors that cause some difficulty for the reader. For instance, writing 'to finding my documents which is left' instead of 'to find my documents which were left' demonstrates issues with word forms and spelling (such as 'There' instead of 'These'). To move up to the next band, you should expand your vocabulary range, incorporate less common lexical items with greater precision, and ensure accurate spelling and word formation throughout your writing.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You demonstrate a very limited range of structures, relying almost entirely on simple sentences, and your attempts at more complex structures are frequently faulty. There are frequent grammatical errors regarding verb forms, tenses, subject-verb agreement, and articles. For example, you write 'documents which is left' instead of 'documents which were left', and 'There papers are important' instead of 'These papers are important'. Additionally, sentence fragments like 'Which i need the most please ask from your lost and found department. And room service staff.' negatively impact your grammatical score. To improve, you need to increase your variety of sentence structures and eliminate frequent errors by carefully checking your verb tenses and punctuation.

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

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