Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-11-10

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

There have been several complaints about the reception area where visitors to your company arrive. Your manager has asked you to suggest how the reception area could be improved.

Write a letter to your manager. In your letter

• describe the complaints that have been made
• say why the reception area is important
• suggest how the reception area could be improved

You do NOT need to write any addresses.

Begin your letter as follows:

Dear ................. ,

Student answer (Band 5.5)

dear Manager,

hope you are doing well.

i would like so inform some complaints which have been made about the reception area,firstly the area was filled with all the files and dust which has been there since a very long time.the customers find it very unprofessional. and then the reception desk is also high where the visitors have to jump to talk to the receptionist.

we cannot remove the the desk because the recepcionist is very important to us because if we dont have it there would be much burden upon us, as the visitors would straight come to the rooms.we can do few things to imprve the area.

firstly, buy one or two desk where we can put all the files arrabge them in the order.

second we can call the carpenter and fix the desk so it can be convinient to the visitors and to the receptionist to work.

thank you

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You address all three requested points: you report complaints about dust and files, explain that reception prevents visitors from going directly into staff rooms, and suggest storage and desk adjustments. These ideas are relevant, but some are only briefly explained. For example, the importance of the area is implied through the receptionist’s role rather than clearly explaining how reception shapes visitors’ first impressions or supports the company’s professional image. The proposed changes also need more detail, such as how the files would be organised or what adjustment would make the desk accessible. A clearer, more formal purpose for writing and a fuller explanation of each suggestion would make the response more complete.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The letter follows a broadly understandable order: complaints come first, followed by the role of reception and possible improvements. Sequencing words such as “firstly” and “second” help signal the list of points. However, the response is presented as one continuous block, so the shift from complaints to the importance of reception and then to solutions is not clearly marked. Some connections are also difficult to follow, particularly “we cannot remove the the desk because the recepcionist is very important to us,” which does not clearly explain the relationship between the desk and the receptionist. Use separate paragraphs for each purpose and connect ideas with clearer explanations rather than relying mainly on list markers.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use enough basic vocabulary to communicate the main concerns and suggestions, including “complaints,” “unprofessional,” “files,” and “carpenter.” However, the range is limited and several spelling or word-choice errors make the letter less clear or less professional, such as “recepcionist,” “imprve,” “arrabge,” and “convinient.” Some phrases are also unnatural, including “jump to talk to the receptionist” and “buy one or two desk.” Choose more precise expressions for the problems and proposed work, and check spelling carefully. A more formal range suited to writing to a manager would help you express the same ideas more accurately and naturally.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response relies mainly on simple sentences and has limited control when attempting longer structures. Errors occur frequently, for example in “hope you are doing well,” “i would like so inform,” and “the area was filled with all the files and dust which has been there.” The last example shifts between past and present forms, while missing capital letters and punctuation make sentence boundaries unclear. There are also problems with articles, plurals, and sentence construction, as in “buy one or two desk.” These errors sometimes make the reader pause to interpret the message. Practise accurate simple sentences first, then add longer sentences using clear clauses and consistent verb forms.

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