Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-08-07

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

During a recent plane journey, you sat next to a businessman who owns a chain of restaurants. You talked to him and he suggested that you should contact him about a possible job in one of his restaurants.

Write a letter to this businessman. In your letter

• remind him when and where you met
• tell him what kind of job you are interested in
• say why you think you would be suitable for the job

You do NOT need to write any addresses.

Begin your letter as follows:

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

Student answer (Band 5.5)

Dear Sir,

I hope you are doing well, I am writing this letter to remind you that we met in the plane two days ago. Etihad Airways from Chicago to Toronto, On wednesday.

We had a good converstaion. Where you were talking about the restaurants that you own, all over Canada. You were just having a trip to Toronto to check upon one of your owned resturants. Upon asking you that if you are hiring at any of your resturants. Turns out you are actually hiring for some specific people.

As I'm looking for the chef postion and luckly you need someone who has a decade experience in this field. And I have experince in it more than your expectations, along with that you were surprised with it, so you asked me to contact you.

Thankl you

Ai

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

You have addressed all three bullet points required by the task: reminding the recipient of the meeting, stating your interest in a chef position, and explaining your suitability. However, the letter is under the 150-word minimum, which negatively impacts the development of your ideas. While the purpose of the letter is clear, the content is somewhat brief and lacks the professional expansion expected in a formal business context. To improve, you should elaborate more on your specific skills and experience to better persuade the reader, which would also help you meet the length requirement.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The letter is organized into short paragraphs, which is appropriate for a formal letter. However, the progression of ideas is somewhat disjointed. The use of cohesive devices is limited, and some sentences feel like a list of facts rather than a flowing narrative. For example, the transition between the meeting details and the job request is abrupt. Using more varied linking words and phrases (e.g., 'Furthermore', 'Consequently', 'In light of our conversation') would help improve the logical flow and make the connection between your past meeting and your current application more seamless.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

Your vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, but it lacks the precision and variety required for a higher band. There are several spelling errors, such as 'converstaion', 'resturants', and 'experince', which distract the reader. Additionally, the phrasing is sometimes repetitive or slightly unnatural, such as 'hiring for some specific people' or 'chef postion'. To improve, focus on using more professional terminology related to the hospitality industry and ensure you proofread carefully to eliminate basic spelling mistakes that detract from your professional tone.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors that affect the clarity of your writing. Issues include incorrect verb tenses ('Upon asking you that if you are hiring'), missing articles, and punctuation errors, such as the comma splice in the first sentence ('I hope you are doing well, I am writing...'). The sentence structure is often fragmented, which hinders the overall fluency. Focusing on subject-verb agreement and correct sentence boundaries will significantly improve your accuracy and the professional quality of your correspondence.

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

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