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 Manager,

I would like to express my concern about recent meeting organized in your hotel. Participants gave me feedback about the meeting in hotel. They believe that decoration was beautiful and heart touching. Additionally environment was peaceful.

However they gave negative feedback about lunch served that day. According to them, lunch was one hour late and when they receive lunch service was not satisfied. The adverse thing I felt was founding hair in food. Numerous participants gave feedback that they had hair in their food.

In my suggestion, next time you can train team to organize time properly and managing situation. Moreover, service training to staff is also crucial. And kindly let them know to wear hairnets to maintain hygiene.

I anticipate your prompt attention on this matter.

Yours faithfully,

Naina Malhotra

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The letter addresses all three bullet points: the positive aspects of the hotel, the issues with the food, and suggestions for improvement. However, the response is under the 150-word minimum, which significantly impacts the development of ideas. The explanation of the food issues is somewhat repetitive, and the suggestions are brief. To improve, you should expand on the impact of the poor service and provide more detailed, professional recommendations. Because the response is under-length, it fails to fully develop the required content, which limits the score.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The letter is organized into logical paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the structure. However, the use of cohesive devices is quite limited and sometimes mechanical. For example, the transition 'The adverse thing I felt was...' is unnatural. There is a lack of variety in linking words, and some sentences feel disjointed. To achieve a higher band, you should use a wider range of cohesive devices (e.g., 'furthermore', 'consequently', 'in light of this') to improve the flow between sentences and paragraphs.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task but lacks precision and sophistication. Phrases like 'heart touching' and 'adverse thing' are not used in the most natural way for a formal complaint letter. There are also some errors in word choice, such as 'founding hair' instead of 'finding hair'. To improve, focus on using more professional collocations suitable for business correspondence, such as 'unacceptable standards' or 'hygiene protocols', rather than relying on basic descriptive language.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The letter contains a mix of simple and some attempted complex structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors. Examples include missing articles ('in hotel', 'in food'), incorrect verb forms ('receive' instead of 'received'), and awkward phrasing ('In my suggestion'). While the meaning is generally clear, these errors are frequent enough to distract the reader. To improve, pay closer attention to subject-verb agreement, the correct use of articles, and consistent tense usage when describing past events.

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

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