Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-10-12

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 to give my feedback for the spending that your company has decided to make for sports team or for concerts.

There are several advantages of sponsoring kids sports team such as keeping the children busy in playful activity. Moreover, such valuable act would be beneficial for the physical and mental wellbeing of children.

As far as spending money on two open-air concerts is concerned, it would be great for the enjoyment of local people. Unfortunately, there are very few activities like this in the town, and to pay for concerts can make a big difference. Therefore, it would be a good chance for people to make a lot of fun.

To sponsor a local children's sports team for a period of two years, money should be spent on selection process, overall fitness of children, playing kits, and food and drinks for the players. For two concerts, company should pay for the area where the concerts would be conducted as well as for all the arrangments for people.

I am looking forward for your practical response on all this.

Yours faithfuly,

Rubab

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You address all three requested points: you mention children’s physical and mental wellbeing, the enjoyment concerts could bring local people, and you indicate that the company should sponsor the team. However, the recommendation is not stated clearly as a direct choice; the paragraph beginning “To sponsor…” mainly lists possible expenses rather than explaining why this is the better use of the money. The benefits of both options are relevant, but they remain general and are not developed with specific outcomes or examples. The opening also describes the company’s decision as already made, although it is asking for public feedback. Make your preference explicit and support it with a clear reason, while developing the benefits of each option more fully. (Eight words copied from the task prompt were not counted.)

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The letter has a coherent overall arrangement: it opens with its purpose, discusses the sports team and concerts in separate paragraphs, and closes with a sign-off. Linking phrases such as “Moreover,” “As far as … is concerned,” and “Therefore” help signal relationships between ideas. Some connections are less effective, however. The paragraph listing costs for both options interrupts the comparison of their benefits and does not clearly lead to a recommendation. “All this” in the closing is also vague, and “Therefore” does not clearly follow from the preceding point. To improve progression, organise the letter around the two options and finish with a distinct recommendation supported by the points already made.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use an adequate range of vocabulary for the topic, including “sponsoring,” “physical and mental wellbeing,” “open-air concerts,” and “overall fitness.” These choices make the main ideas understandable, and you attempt some less common expressions. There are also noticeable word-choice, collocation, and spelling problems: “feedback for the spending” is awkward, “make a lot of fun” is not idiomatic, and “arrangments” and “faithfuly” are misspelled. “Selection process” is also unclear in the context of what the sponsorship would fund. These issues do not prevent the reader from understanding the letter, but more natural phrasing and careful proofreading would make it more precise and professional.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and more complex sentence forms, including the subordinate clause “Unfortunately, there are very few activities like this in the town” and the conditional-style phrase “To sponsor …, money should be spent on…”. Most sentences communicate their meaning, and errors rarely obstruct understanding. Some grammatical inaccuracies remain, particularly with articles, prepositions, and sentence patterns. For example, “sponsoring kids sports team” needs an article and a possessive form, while “I am looking forward for” uses the wrong preposition after “looking forward.” The opening sentence also has an awkward construction around “has decided to make for sports team or for concerts.” Review article use and common verb-preposition patterns, and vary sentence structures while keeping them controlled.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.