Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-10-02

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 Kenechukwu,

I am writing to inform you about the reception areas where visitors convene before they are taken in for their various appointments.

To begin with, complaints have been made about the floor as it's very slippery and few people have had a drastic fall and gotten injured. The paint on the wall looks very ancient and they have moulds on them which is toxic to human health. The aircondition also makes very strange sound and this is very disturbing as visitors get shocked when it's starts abruptly. The water dispenser doesn't dispense cold water as the plug is bad and visitors are made to drink hot water.

The reception area is very important as it gives Visitors an insight to the values of the company. A reception area looking very archaic ruins their mood and sometimes they want to leave or arrange for a meeting elsewhere. This has made us loosed some significant deals and given the company some financial setbacks.

We can improve the area by getting a painter to screed the wall and paint it with warm colours like white or beige. The floors also have to bevchanged to some of these modern wooden designs we have in the market currently. The aircondition and water dispenser also needs to be replaced. Additionally, we could do add some beautiful artworks on the wall while the chairs are also changed completely

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.5

The response successfully covers all parts of the prompt, addressing the complaints, the importance of the reception area, and suggestions for improvement. The ideas are extended and supported clearly, such as when you explain how an archaic reception area ruins visitors' moods and leads to lost business deals. You adopt an appropriate semi-formal tone suitable for a letter to a manager. Although there is a slight tendency to overgeneralise in your description of the issues, your position and purpose remain clear throughout the letter. To reach higher bands, you could develop your suggestions with even more specific operational details, such as mentioning a budget or specific timelines for the proposed renovations.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 7.0

Your letter demonstrates a clear logical organisation and progression throughout. You make effective use of paragraphs, with each paragraph dedicated to a distinct part of the task: introducing the issue, detailing complaints, explaining the importance of the area, and providing suggestions. You use cohesive devices adequately to guide the reader, such as "To begin with", "The reception area is very important as", and "Additionally". However, referencing and transitions are at times slightly mechanical. To achieve a higher band, you could use a wider and more flexible variety of cohesive devices and ensure that referencing between sentences is smoother, making the progression of ideas feel entirely natural and effortless.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully attempting less common items and descriptive phrases such as "drastic fall", "ancient", "archaic", and "financial setbacks". However, your writing contains several noticeable lexical errors in word choice, word form, and collocation. For instance, you wrote "moulds on them which is toxic" instead of "mold on them", "aircondition makes very strange sound" instead of "air conditioner makes a very strange sound", and "loosed some significant deals" instead of "lost". Additionally, expressions like "screed the wall" show some awareness of specific vocabulary, but the persistence of these word choice and form inaccuracies restricts your score. To improve, you should focus on precise collocations and ensure correct word forms.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence forms to convey your message, incorporating relative clauses such as "where visitors convene before they are taken in" and conditional or temporal elements. However, your writing contains several grammatical errors in subject-verb agreement, plurals, and article usage. Examples include "few people have had a drastic fall and gotten injured", "the aircondition also makes very strange sound", "it's starts abruptly" where the apostrophe is misused, "the floors also have to bevchanged" containing a typographical and structural slip, and "the aircondition and water dispenser also needs to be replaced" where a plural subject requires a plural verb. These errors occur regularly alongside error-free sentences. To move up, you need to exercise greater control over basic grammatical agreement and punctuation.

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

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