Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 13 · 2026-08-08

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 6.5)

Dear Sir or Madam,

I am writing this letter to apprise you of the issue that my colleagues faced during their recent visit to your hotel. Although they liked the hotel overall, they were not satisfied with the meal especially during the lunch. Participants enjoyed the reception at the arrival. They were also impressed by the decoration in the main hall.

Ever since I am holding meetings in your hotel I never faced any issues until this incident happened. Some employees complied about the food temperature as they found it cold and unpalatable. Additionally, they complained about the freshness of few deserts.

Would you be kind enough to look into this matter? I would like to suggest that you should take ardent steps to keep the food fresh and hot for the visitors. Moreover, provide additional training to the staff to adhere the food safety standards will be beneficial. These steps will not only help your business to grow but will also safeguard your long standing reputation.

Hoping for a prompt consideration.

Yours faithfully,

Achin Pal

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

The letter successfully addresses all three bullet points of the prompt. You clearly identify what was liked (reception and decoration), explain the issues with the food (temperature and freshness), and provide constructive suggestions for improvement. The tone is appropriate for a formal letter of complaint. The ideas are well-developed and the purpose of the letter is clear from the beginning. To reach a higher band, ensure that the explanation of the food issues is slightly more detailed, perhaps by mentioning the specific impact on the participants' experience, which would further extend the response.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The letter is logically organized with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a closing. Each paragraph focuses on a specific aspect of the task. You use cohesive devices such as 'Additionally', 'Moreover', and 'Although' to link ideas effectively. However, the transition between the first and second paragraph could be smoother. The use of referencing is generally clear, though some minor improvements in the flow between sentences would enhance the overall coherence. The paragraphing is appropriate for a formal letter.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.5

You demonstrate a sufficient range of vocabulary to convey your message clearly. Phrases like 'apprise you of the issue', 'unpalatable', and 'long standing reputation' show a good attempt at using more sophisticated language. There are some minor errors in word choice, such as 'complied' instead of 'complained' and 'deserts' instead of 'desserts'. While these do not impede communication, they indicate a need for more precise vocabulary control. Continuing to read formal business correspondence will help you refine your usage of professional collocations.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. However, there are several grammatical errors that occur throughout the text. For example, 'Ever since I am holding meetings' should be 'Ever since I have been holding meetings', and 'adhere the food safety standards' should be 'adhere to the food safety standards'. Additionally, 'especially during the lunch' is slightly unnatural; 'especially during lunch' would be better. While these errors do not prevent the reader from understanding your meaning, they are frequent enough to prevent a higher score. Focus on verb tenses and preposition usage.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.