Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 13 · 2026-08-24

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 5.0)

Dear sir,

Hello, hope you are doing well, am writing this email regarding our recent meeting in the hotel. The participants in the meeting like the hotel a lot they liked the ambience and the hotel. The meeting went so smoothly, they gave a positive feedback. But, they were unhappy, about the food they concern about the taste of food that was not good even the ingridients were used not good. So, according to me tha thing we need to improve is when we oraganise any meeting in hotel or place we need to to check their food quality aslo. This was my concern and i sahre their feed back also with you. Hope yo will understand and make sure you will improve the quality of food.

Thank you

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The response addresses all three bullet points: the positive aspects of the hotel, the complaints regarding the food, and suggestions for improvement. However, the development of these ideas is quite limited, and the response fails to meet the minimum word count requirement of 150 words, which significantly impacts the overall task achievement. The tone is somewhat informal for a formal letter to a manager, and the ideas are presented in a very brief, underdeveloped manner. To improve, you should expand on your points with more detail and ensure the letter meets the required length.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The letter lacks clear paragraphing, which is essential for a formal letter. The ideas are presented in a single block, making the progression of the argument feel disjointed. While there is a basic attempt to link ideas using words like 'but' and 'so', the use of cohesive devices is mechanical and limited. The flow between the positive feedback and the negative critique is abrupt. To improve, you should structure your letter into distinct paragraphs: an introduction, a paragraph for each bullet point, and a concluding sentence.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary is quite basic and repetitive. Phrases such as 'like the hotel a lot' and 'not good' are simplistic and lack the precision expected in a formal complaint letter. There are also spelling errors, such as 'ingridients' and 'oraganise', and grammatical issues with word choice, such as 'they concern about the taste'. To achieve a higher band, you need to use a wider range of vocabulary, including more sophisticated collocations and precise adjectives to describe the quality of the food and the hotel facilities.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The response contains frequent grammatical errors, including missing articles ('in hotel'), incorrect verb forms ('they concern about'), and punctuation issues. The sentence structures are mostly simple, with very few attempts at complex sentences. There are also issues with subject-verb agreement and word order, such as 'the ingridients were used not good'. These errors occasionally make the meaning slightly unclear. To improve, focus on mastering basic sentence construction, including correct subject-verb agreement and the appropriate use of articles and prepositions.

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

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