Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-09-17

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 5.0)

Dear Sir,

I hope you are doing well. The reason I am writing this letter to you is to talk regarding the job you mentioned.

I would like to remind you our first meeting. I hope you remember we met on a plane ride, it was an eight hour journey from Vancouver to Toronto and we were sitting next to each other.

Firstly I would like show gratitude, you offer me a job in one of your franchise. Although I would like to mention my experience, it could be beneficial to understand which position might be a fit for me.

I have been doing Supervisor duties at Whole Foods for 14 months.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 4.5

The response covers the main communicative requirements of the prompt, including reminding the businessman of the plane journey and mentioning interest in a job. However, the third bullet point regarding why you are suitable is only touched upon briefly with a mention of experience at Whole Foods, and the letter remains incomplete due to the text stopping abruptly. Additionally, the length requirement has NOT been met, as the response contains only 112 words, falling significantly short of the 150-word minimum. This under-length severely limits the development of ideas and results in a lower score for this criterion. To improve, ensure all bullet points are fully expanded and meet the minimum word count.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The letter exhibits a basic structure with an appropriate opening salutation and introductory remarks. Sentences are generally linked together, though paragraphing is underdeveloped due to the incomplete nature of the writing. Cohesive devices are simple, such as 'Firstly' and 'Although', but their use is somewhat mechanical or grammatically awkward in context (e.g., 'Although I would like to mention...'). There is a logical progression attempted from greeting to context and then experience, but the abrupt ending disrupts overall coherence. To achieve a higher band, develop distinct paragraphs for each key point of the letter and employ a wider, more natural range of cohesive links.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is adequate for basic communication but lacks the range and precision expected for higher band scores. The student uses standard phrases like 'doing well', 'eight hour journey', and 'Supervisor duties'. There are also lexical and collocational inaccuracies, such as writing 'talk regarding' instead of 'talk about' or 'discuss', and 'one of your franchise' instead of 'franchises'. Furthermore, 'show gratitude' would be more naturally expressed as 'express my gratitude'. The vocabulary is repetitive and lacks less common or idiomatic items appropriate for a semi-formal business letter. Expanding the lexical repertoire with precise verbs and nouns will significantly improve this score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The response demonstrates a mix of simple sentence structures with a few attempts at complex forms, such as 'Although I would like to mention my experience, it could be beneficial...'. However, there are several noticeable grammatical errors and awkward phrasings throughout the text. Examples include 'remind you our first meeting' (missing preposition 'of'), 'you offer me a job' (incorrect tense; should be 'offered'), and missing punctuation marks. The control over complex structures is inconsistent, and basic grammatical slips occur frequently enough to cause occasional hesitation for the reader. Focusing on accurate tense usage and prepositional phrases will help elevate grammar scores.

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

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