Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 13 · 2026-08-03

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

You recently organised an all-day meeting for your company, which took place in a local hotel. In their feedback, participants at the meeting said that they liked the hotel, but they were unhappy about the food that was served for lunch.

Write a letter to the manager of the hotel. In your letter

• say what the participants liked about the hotel
• explain why they were unhappy about the food
• suggest what the manager should do to improve the food in future

You do NOT need to write any addresses.

Begin your letter as follows:

Dear Sir or Madam,

Student answer (Band 5.5)

Dear Sir,

I am writing this letter to express my dissatisfaction regarding the visit we had at your hotel last week.

We stayed at your hotel for all-day for the meeting purpose. It was great experience in the hotel. Room was so spacious and luxurious, well ventilated and organized. All my employees loved it so much that they could not look away. They even insist to book for future reference. We had great time there and it was mesmerizing.

Despite everything was so perfect, my participant did not love the food, as it was so spicy and full of oil. Which is unhealthy for anyone. The food quality was so poor and it was not as per our preference. Eventhough, we informed previously about Jain food and vegetarian food, your staff did not prepared and it took so much time for our meeting.

I would like to give some suggestion so it would not repeate next time. As a manager you should visit kitchen on regular bases, so you get to know that food is hygienic or not. Secondly, food should be made accourding to clients taste and interest.

I hope you make some effective change and applied.

Yours faithfully,

RHP

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The letter addresses all three bullet points of the prompt: the positive aspects of the hotel, the issues with the food, and suggestions for improvement. The tone is generally appropriate for a formal letter, though it occasionally slips into informal phrasing. The ideas are relevant, but the development is somewhat limited; for instance, the explanation of why the food was poor could be more detailed regarding the specific impact on the meeting. However, the purpose of the letter is clear throughout, and the reader is left in no doubt about the writer's intent.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The letter is logically organized into paragraphs, each focusing on a specific requirement of the task. The progression of ideas is clear, moving from the positive feedback to the complaint and finally to the suggestions. However, the use of cohesive devices is somewhat mechanical and occasionally inaccurate, such as the use of 'Which is unhealthy' as a sentence fragment and 'Eventhough' to start a sentence. While the paragraphing is appropriate, the transitions between sentences could be smoother to improve the overall flow of the text.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is adequate for the task, allowing the writer to convey their message clearly. There are some attempts at using more descriptive language, such as 'mesmerizing' and 'spacious'. However, there are several instances of awkward word choice and collocation errors, such as 'meeting purpose', 'look away', and 'made accourding to'. Additionally, there are minor spelling errors like 'repeate' and 'accourding'. The range is sufficient to communicate, but lacks the precision and flexibility required for a higher band score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The writing contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is generally clear, there are frequent grammatical errors, particularly with verb tense and subject-verb agreement, such as 'your staff did not prepared' and 'I hope you make some effective change and applied'. Punctuation is also inconsistent, with some sentence fragments and missing commas. These errors do not impede communication, but they are frequent enough to prevent a higher score. A greater focus on proofreading for basic grammatical accuracy would be beneficial.

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

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