Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-09-24

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 5.0)

Dear Sir,

I wants to say that from the few days there's been a lot of complaints by the guests of our company about the reception area that the reception area is not clean as well as the receptionists are very rude in behaviour.

As we know that how important the reception area is important for a company because everything of a company is done by the reception for example if some need to find anything they will go to reception and we all know a reception is the first impression of any company, our first impression becomes down then it will be a big lose for our company.

According to me we should hire more experienced and skilled receptionists. and we should clean out reception atleast 2-3 times in a day. So, in that way we can improve our reception area.

Yours faithfully

Akshitiz

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The student covers all three bullet points required in the prompt: describing the complaints, explaining the importance of the reception area, and suggesting improvements. However, the tone of the letter is somewhat informal for a professional workplace context ('I wants to say', 'According to me'). Furthermore, the response falls slightly short of the 150-word minimum, containing 145 words. This under-length issue prevents the ideas from being fully extended and developed, resulting in a penalty to the task achievement score. To reach a higher band, the writer needs to expand on the specific types of complaints and offer more detailed suggestions while ensuring the word count requirement is comfortably met.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The letter follows a basic logical structure, moving from the introduction of the problem to its importance, and finally to suggestions for improvement. Paragraphing is attempted, but the second paragraph is an excessively long, run-on sentence ('As we know that how important the reception area is important for a company because...'). Cohesive devices are minimal and repetitive (e.g., 'and', 'so'), and punctuation is largely neglected, with periods missing between distinct thoughts. This mechanical and faulty cohesion restricts the response to a Band 5.0.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is basic and repetitive, frequently reusing words like 'company', 'reception', and 'impression' within close proximity. There are noticeable inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'our first impression becomes down then it will be a big lose for our company' instead of 'loss'. While the language is minimally adequate to convey the core message, the limited range and frequent lexical errors reflect Band 5.0 descriptors.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response demonstrates a very limited range of grammatical structures, relying heavily on basic, repetitive sentence patterns. There are multiple grammatical errors throughout the text, including subject-verb agreement issues ('I wants to say', 'there's been a lot of complaints'), awkward phrasing ('from the few days'), and comma splices. Complex structures are attempted in the second paragraph but result in tangled, ungrammatical syntax. Frequent errors and poor punctuation cause some difficulty for the reader, aligning with Band 5.0.

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

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