Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 13 · 2026-08-21

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,

Hi, how are you, Our company recently came here for our team meeting in your hotel and we have eaten food from your hotel with all my participants who are here in meeting.

We really enjoyed your hotel structure and have creative design on the wall. Also your management all gave us respect when we enter in the hotel. We really enjoyed when your employees talking very peacefully with every member of us. So, my participant liked how they welcomed us.

But the thing is that we didn't like your food in taste. In food their is so much salt and in some food they have not fired properly. So, we don't like food of your hotel. But I will suggest to manager that please you should focus on food proper because people want food proper if they spend on money on food they also want good feedback form your side.

So, this the thing I and my participants have noticed and giving our feedback to your hotel

Thank You

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The letter addresses all three bullet points required by the prompt: the positive aspects of the hotel, the issues with the food, and suggestions for improvement. However, the development of these ideas is quite limited. The explanation of why the food was unsatisfactory is repetitive and lacks specific detail, and the suggestion for improvement is phrased in a way that is difficult to follow. To reach a higher band, you should provide more concrete examples of the food issues and offer more professional, actionable suggestions for the manager. The tone is also somewhat informal for a formal letter of complaint.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The letter is organized into paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the structure. However, the use of cohesive devices is very limited and often mechanical. Phrases like 'But the thing is that' and 'So, this the thing' are informal and do not effectively link ideas in a professional manner. The progression of ideas is sometimes disjointed, particularly in the final paragraph, which feels like a summary rather than a natural conclusion to a formal letter. Improving the use of transition words such as 'furthermore', 'consequently', or 'in light of this' would significantly improve the flow.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary is quite basic and repetitive. You rely on simple words like 'good', 'like', and 'food' throughout the text. There are also some awkward collocations, such as 'fired properly' (likely meaning 'cooked') and 'food proper'. While the meaning is generally clear, the range of vocabulary is insufficient to express your points with precision or professional tone. To improve, focus on learning topic-specific vocabulary related to hospitality and formal correspondence, and try to avoid repeating the same words in close proximity.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

There are frequent grammatical errors throughout the letter, including issues with verb tense ('have eaten', 'they have not fired'), article usage, and sentence structure. For example, 'In food their is so much salt' contains a spelling error ('their' instead of 'there') and awkward phrasing. Many sentences are simple, and there is a lack of complex structures. While these errors do not completely prevent communication, they are frequent enough to cause some difficulty for the reader and indicate a lack of control over basic grammatical rules.

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

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