Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 13 · 2026-08-07

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 pay thanks to you for all the accommodation you managed for our meeting which was organised recently. All the participants were happy with the hotel facilities. Guests who stayed, said impeccable environment they had. They got all the facilities on time. Management of the company has also acknowledged your efforts.

There is another feedback which I got from the audiance and I guess you people really need to work on that and that is the variety of your food. Most of the people did not like it much as they mentioned there must be another dishes like sea food and some traditional food as well. Overall taste of the food was amazing and everybody liked it.

Next month we are going to arrange another meeting in your hotel and I am pretty sure we will see the super variety of food there.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Regards,

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses all three bullet points of the task. You successfully mention the positive aspects of the hotel, explain the dissatisfaction with the food, and provide a suggestion for improvement. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited. For example, the explanation regarding the food is contradictory; you state that 'most of the people did not like it' but then immediately claim the 'overall taste was amazing.' This inconsistency makes the argument less persuasive. To reach a higher band, ensure your ideas are logically consistent and provide more specific detail regarding the 'variety' issue to fully develop the response.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The letter is organised into clear paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the structure. However, the use of cohesive devices is somewhat mechanical and limited. Transitions between sentences are often abrupt, such as the jump from discussing the hotel facilities to the food feedback. While the overall progression is logical, the lack of varied linking words (e.g., 'furthermore,' 'consequently,' 'in light of this') makes the flow feel a bit simplistic. Improving the use of transition signals would help create a smoother, more professional tone suitable for a formal letter.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, allowing you to communicate your message clearly. You use some appropriate phrases like 'impeccable environment' and 'acknowledged your efforts.' However, there are some awkward collocations and word choices, such as 'pay thanks to you' (instead of 'thank you') and 'audiance' (spelling error). The phrase 'super variety' is too informal for a formal letter to a manager. To improve, focus on using more precise, formal vocabulary and ensure that your word choices are consistently appropriate for a professional context.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

You demonstrate a mix of simple and some complex sentence structures. There are several grammatical errors that occur throughout the text, such as 'Guests who stayed, said impeccable environment they had' (missing articles and awkward syntax) and 'there must be another dishes' (incorrect pluralisation). While these errors do not prevent the reader from understanding your meaning, they occur frequently enough to impact the overall accuracy. To improve, pay closer attention to subject-verb agreement, the correct use of articles, and sentence construction to ensure your writing is more polished and error-free.

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

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