Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 13 · 2026-08-17

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 express my dissatisfaction with the lunch at your hotel on 21st July 2025, despite having good ambience and service at hotel. I am the manager of the company, and I organize the whole day meeting with my colleagues and clients.

Additionally, if I have to talk about the surroundings of the place is really good and the tables and lightings are on point and overall meeting passed very well as we planned. After the meeting at lunch table the starters were excellent, and desert was also very delightful, but while having the main course the food did not seem fresh and the chicken curry was little sour in taste.

Moreover, the breads were also not soft enough, which makes it hard to chew. I would suggest that your kitchen staff check the freshness of the ingredients before serving them and ensure that the main course is prepared shortly before lunch.

I hope this letter finds you well and you will address this problem which can eventually harm your hotel image in the market.

Yours faithfully,

Tim Cook

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

You have successfully addressed all three bullet points in the prompt. You clearly stated what was liked about the hotel (ambience, service, lighting), explained the issues with the main course (lack of freshness, sour chicken, hard bread), and provided actionable suggestions for improvement. The tone is appropriate for a formal letter of complaint. To reach a higher band, ensure that your introduction clearly states the purpose of the letter without unnecessary repetition of your job title, and ensure the development of ideas is slightly more sophisticated, perhaps by linking the food quality more directly to the impact on your company's professional reputation.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The letter is logically organised with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. You use some cohesive devices such as 'Additionally', 'Moreover', and 'After the meeting', which help guide the reader. However, some transitions feel slightly mechanical, and the flow between the first and second paragraph could be smoother. For example, the shift from the introduction to the description of the surroundings is a bit abrupt. Using a wider variety of linking words and ensuring that each paragraph focuses on a single, well-developed idea would improve the overall coherence.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You have a sufficient range of vocabulary to convey your message clearly. Phrases like 'dissatisfaction', 'ambience', and 'ingredients' are well-chosen. However, there are some minor inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'lightings are on point' (informal) and 'desert' (spelling error for 'dessert'). To improve, try to use more precise adjectives and avoid informal idioms. The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, but lacks the flexibility and precision required for higher bands.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

You demonstrate a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is always clear, there are several grammatical errors, such as 'I organize the whole day meeting' (tense inconsistency), 'the surroundings of the place is' (subject-verb agreement), and 'which makes it hard' (tense consistency). Punctuation is generally functional, but some sentences are slightly clunky. To improve, focus on subject-verb agreement and consistent tense usage, especially when describing past events versus general suggestions for the future.

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

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