Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-09-02

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

A large company in your area has decided to spend a certain amount of money, either to sponsor a local children's sports team for two years, or to pay for two open-air concerts. It has asked for feedback from the general public.

Write a letter to the company. In your letter

• describe the benefits of sponsoring the sports team
• summarise the benefits of paying for the concerts
• say how you think the company should spend the money

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 writing this to express my suggestion on company's investment for a sponsorship of sports team or open air concert.

Having a sponsorship brings a lots of benefits such as a free marketing, popularity in youth, profit and many more. Apart from that you get a chance to attend sport and welfare program of government which provides connection between firm and community.

On other hand, paying for the concerts has different benefits like great return back, also some people are more on to music as compared to other things. Singers have their own popularity which makes also make great connection.

According to me, compony should spend on sports team rather than concert because in this modern world this make set an example for fitness.

Thank you so much for considering feedback from us.

Best regards,

Yash

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The response addresses all three bullet points of the prompt, providing benefits for both options and a clear recommendation. However, the development of ideas is quite limited and lacks depth. For instance, the benefits of the sports team and concerts are mentioned in very general terms without specific examples or elaboration. Furthermore, the response is 141 words long, failing to meet the 150-word minimum requirement. This under-length significantly impacts the overall task achievement, as the ideas are not sufficiently extended to meet the criteria for a higher band.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The letter is organized into logical paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the structure. However, the use of cohesive devices is somewhat mechanical and repetitive (e.g., 'Apart from that', 'On other hand'). There are also issues with referencing; for example, the phrase 'this make set an example' is grammatically unclear and disrupts the flow of the argument. While the progression of ideas is generally logical, the lack of sophisticated linking words and the brevity of the paragraphs prevent a higher score.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task but remains quite basic and repetitive. There are several instances of awkward phrasing and word choice, such as 'a lots of benefits', 'more on to music', and 'great return back'. These errors occasionally make the text sound unnatural. To improve, you should aim to use more precise collocations and a wider range of vocabulary related to business and community engagement. The spelling is generally accurate, but the limited range of vocabulary restricts the score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The response contains a mix of simple and some attempted complex sentence structures. However, there are frequent grammatical errors that affect the clarity of the writing, such as 'I am writing this to express my suggestion on company's investment' (missing articles), 'this make set an example' (incorrect verb form), and 'makes also make' (redundant verb). While the meaning is generally understandable, these recurring errors in basic grammar and sentence construction indicate a need for more careful proofreading and practice with sentence structure.

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

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