Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-08-06

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 6.5)

Dear Mr ford,

I am writing to suggest some of the methods to enhance our office reception area.

As you are aware, we had received a lot of complaints from the visitors regarding the reception area. The waiting place is very small with insufficient number of chairs, and the place is not tidy. Also, the receptionist is not always available in the lobby, so the questions from the customers are not addressed properly.

This area is the front end of our building, and seeing this place, outsiders will judge our organization. Moreover, our employees are not happy with the service. Therefore, it is very essential to make some changes to this place.

There is a empty room situated to the west side of this reception, which can be made into a visitors place. It is spacious and we can put lots of chairs and benches. Furthermore, we can appoint a manager for the customer service department, so that the workload will be divided equally among the staffs. This manager can look after the cleanliness and report you if there is some issues going on. This will make our employees and clients happy.

I am looking forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely

Helen

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

You have addressed all three bullet points of the prompt effectively. You clearly described the complaints regarding the size, cleanliness, and staffing of the reception area. You also articulated why the area is important, noting its role as the 'front end' of the company. Finally, your suggestions—converting an empty room and hiring a dedicated manager—are relevant and well-developed. The tone is appropriate for a formal letter to a manager. To reach a higher band, ensure that your opening and closing are fully consistent with the formal register required for this task.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The letter is logically organized, with each paragraph focusing on a specific aspect of the prompt. You use some cohesive devices such as 'Moreover', 'Therefore', and 'Furthermore' to link your ideas. However, the progression between sentences could be smoother. For example, the transition between the complaints and the importance of the area is slightly abrupt. Additionally, the use of referencing could be more precise; for instance, 'seeing this place' is a bit informal. Overall, the paragraphing is clear and supports the flow of information well.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'insufficient', 'spacious', and 'addressed properly'. There are some minor issues with word choice and collocation, such as 'visitors place' (should be 'visitor area') and 'if there is some issues' (should be 'if there are some issues'). You also use 'staffs', which is grammatically incorrect as 'staff' is an uncountable noun in this context. While the vocabulary is sufficient to convey your meaning clearly, it lacks the precision and sophistication required for a higher band score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While your meaning is always clear, there are several grammatical errors. For example, 'a empty room' should be 'an empty room', and 'insufficient number of chairs' requires an article ('an insufficient number'). The phrase 'if there is some issues' contains a subject-verb agreement error. Despite these errors, they do not impede communication. To improve, focus on article usage and subject-verb agreement, and try to incorporate a wider variety of complex sentence structures to demonstrate greater control.

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

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