Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 13 · 2026-08-09

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 to express my dissatisfaction about a recent visit at your hotel.

What we liked the most is the environment and the interior at the hotel, it gave us a pleasant vibe and we felt so refreshed. Also, lightings and decorations were fantastic, which made it quite convenient for our team to click pictures.

Unfortunately, participants did not like the food at all. They said the quality of the food was poor as it was extra spicy, oily and tasteless, which caused considerable inconvenience to enjoy the food.

I would appreciate it if food service is improved. I would suggest to talk to kitchen staff about controlling putting extra spices and oil, helping to improve your hotel ratings and reviews. Not only it would enhance your reputation, but also it would attract more customers in the future.

Thank you. I hope my suggestions will be taken into consideration.

Yours faithfully,

Sukhpreet Kour

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

The letter covers all three bullet points required by the prompt. You clearly state what was liked (environment, interior, lighting), explain the dissatisfaction with the food (spicy, oily, tasteless), and provide a suggestion for improvement (talking to kitchen staff). The tone is appropriate for a formal letter of complaint. To reach a higher band, you could expand slightly on the impact of the poor food on the meeting itself, rather than just describing the food's qualities, to show a more developed response to the situation.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The letter is logically organized with a clear introduction, body paragraphs for each point, and a closing. Paragraphing is used effectively to separate the positive feedback from the complaint and the suggestions. Cohesive devices such as 'Also', 'Unfortunately', and 'Not only... but also' are used to link ideas. However, some transitions are a bit mechanical. For example, the transition between the positive aspects and the complaint could be smoother to improve the flow of the narrative.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'dissatisfaction', 'considerable inconvenience', and 'reputation'. There are some minor collocation issues, such as 'visit at your hotel' (should be 'visit to') and 'click pictures' (more naturally 'take photos'). While the vocabulary is sufficient to convey your meaning clearly, it lacks the sophistication or precision required for higher bands. Expanding your use of more precise adjectives and formal business collocations would improve this score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are some grammatical errors, such as 'lightings' (uncountable noun, should be 'lighting') and 'controlling putting extra spices' (awkward phrasing; 'reducing the use of' would be better). The sentence 'Not only it would enhance your reputation, but also it would attract...' contains a word order error; it should be 'Not only would it enhance...'. Despite these errors, the meaning is always clear, and the errors do not impede communication.

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

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