Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 13 · 2026-08-23

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 reacently organised a meeting which was organised in the local hotel i just want to inform you about their feedback what they like and what do not like.

The most important thing they liked the hotel they said all the maintenance of the hotel is well structured they also like the cleaning and decoration which really attracts all the customers. everything is good in the hotel

The another thing which they do not like is food which was served for lunch they do not like it all they said taste is weird and there was some items which was made by low quality of material which can not only impact the reputation of hotel but also put adverse impact on health , if someone will sick from this food ,company can cancel the licence.

There are a lots of steps we should take to improve the quality of food Firstly, taste the food before serve it to customers, use high quality of oil and ingredients to make food , always serve fresh food and check the temperature of food every 2 hours that is the main thing to improve

your sincerely

kamal

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The letter addresses all three bullet points of the prompt: the positive feedback about the hotel, the negative feedback regarding the lunch, and suggestions for improvement. However, the development of these ideas is somewhat basic. For instance, the explanation for the poor food quality is a bit repetitive and relies on extreme scenarios, such as the threat of losing a license, which feels slightly unnatural in a formal complaint letter. To reach a higher band, you should aim to provide more professional and nuanced justifications for your complaints and suggestions, ensuring the tone remains consistently formal throughout the correspondence.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The letter is organised into paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the structure. However, the use of cohesive devices is quite limited and sometimes mechanical. For example, the transition between the positive and negative points is abrupt. There is a lack of linking words (e.g., 'furthermore', 'consequently', 'in addition') to connect ideas smoothly within and between paragraphs. Additionally, the punctuation is inconsistent, with many run-on sentences and a lack of capitalisation, which disrupts the flow of the text and makes the progression of ideas feel less logical than it could be.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task but lacks the precision and variety required for higher bands. You rely on simple descriptors like 'good', 'weird', and 'low quality'. While these communicate the message, they do not demonstrate a wide range of vocabulary. There are also some awkward collocations, such as 'maintenance of the hotel is well structured' and 'made by low quality of material'. To improve, focus on using more sophisticated adjectives and collocations that are appropriate for a formal business letter, such as 'impeccable standards' or 'substandard ingredients'.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The response contains a mix of simple and some attempted complex structures, but there are frequent errors in grammar, punctuation, and sentence construction. Many sentences are run-on, lacking proper full stops or commas, such as 'everything is good in the hotel The another thing...'. There are also consistent errors with articles ('the local hotel', 'the reputation of hotel') and subject-verb agreement ('someone will sick', 'there was some items'). These errors are noticeable and occasionally force the reader to re-read to grasp the intended meaning, which is characteristic of the 5.0-5.5 range.

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

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