Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-10-06

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 John,

I hope you are doing well. I am writing in response to your previous letter where you asked my suggestion on how we can improve our reception area.

I have thoroughly looked into this matter, and I have found out that there were two major issues in the reception area. Firstly, many visitors have complaint about a constant smell in the area, which makes their waiting experience very painful. One of the visitors said that she had to leave early because she could not bear the unpleasant odor. Secondly, the chairs are not very comfortable and some of them are even broken. This has caused people to keep standing or walking in the reception area. Which in turn causes a great deal of rush and chaos at the reception.

I think both these issues needs to be resolved at the earliest. It is causing a lot of customers to leave without even talking to the representative and therefore we are losing a lot of potential clients.

The reception area is an integral part of the company. It is the first place that a potential client sees. It should be presenting our best selves.

Regards,

Novaira

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You address the complaints and explain why reception matters, with relevant details: visitors report an unpleasant smell, and some chairs are uncomfortable or broken; you also connect the area to first impressions and potential clients. However, the requested improvements are not actually stated. “I think both these issues needs to be resolved” identifies a need, but does not say what action you recommend, such as investigating the odour, cleaning or repairing the area, and replacing the chairs. The importance section is also brief, and the letter ends without a clear concluding request. To strengthen the response, develop practical recommendations and explain how they would improve visitors’ experience.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The letter has a generally clear sequence: it opens with the purpose, describes two complaints, explains their business impact, and then discusses the reception area’s importance. Paragraphing helps separate these points, and “Firstly” and “Secondly” make the complaint details easy to follow. Some connections are less smooth, however. “This has caused people to keep standing or walking” is followed by the sentence fragment “Which in turn causes…”, so the relationship between the ideas is not fully controlled. The final paragraph also stops abruptly rather than leading to a request or closing recommendation. Use complete sentences and add a concluding paragraph that brings your suggestions together.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.5

You use an adequate range of vocabulary for the situation, including “unpleasant odor,” “potential clients,” “integral part,” and “representative.” These choices communicate the main points, and some less common expressions show an attempt to be precise. A few word choices or collocations are less natural: “waiting experience very painful” is stronger and less idiomatic than the context requires, while “a great deal of rush” does not express the resulting disorder naturally. “Previous letter” also seems inconsistent with the prompt, which says the manager asked you to make suggestions. Aim for precise, professional phrasing, such as describing the wait as uncomfortable and the area as crowded or chaotic.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.5

You use a mix of simple and more complex forms, including the relative clause in “chairs are not very comfortable and some of them are even broken” and the conditional explanation of how the problems affect visitors. Most meaning remains clear, but some grammatical errors are noticeable. For example, “many visitors have complaint” should use the past participle “complained,” and “both these issues needs” requires plural agreement (“need”). The sentence beginning “Which in turn causes…” is a fragment; connect it to the preceding sentence or make it a complete sentence. There is also a tense inconsistency in “I have found out that there were.” Proofread agreement, verb forms, and sentence boundaries.

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