Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 13 · 2026-08-27

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 Mr .Sharma,

I am writing this letter to inform you that i organised our all day meeting for our company which is in your hotel . So, we participants give reviews about your hotel and service.

Many participants love your hotel infrastructure and more important the ambience was so peaceful.

One of the main concern was food . The quality of food was not good .They don't liked the taste of food.

I want you to please take some actions regarding food and improve the quality of food. I am looking forward to hearing your response.

Yours faithfully,

Mehak Bhardwaj

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The response fails to meet the minimum word count requirement of 150 words, which significantly impacts the development of the ideas. While all three bullet points are addressed, the content is very brief and lacks the necessary detail to fully satisfy the task requirements. For example, the explanation of why participants were unhappy with the food is limited to 'The quality of food was not good,' which is underdeveloped. To improve, you should expand on your points by providing specific examples of what was wrong with the food and offering more detailed suggestions for improvement.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The letter is logically organized, with a clear opening and closing. However, the paragraphing is insufficient, and the use of cohesive devices is very limited. The sentences are somewhat disjointed, and there is a lack of transition words to connect ideas smoothly. For instance, the transition between the hotel's positive aspects and the negative feedback about the food is abrupt. To improve, use linking words such as 'furthermore,' 'however,' or 'consequently' to create a better flow between your sentences and paragraphs.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is basic and repetitive. Phrases like 'quality of food' and 'improve the quality' are used multiple times, which limits the range. There are also some awkward collocations, such as 'infrastructure' to describe a hotel's atmosphere. To achieve a higher band, try to use more varied and precise vocabulary. Instead of saying 'the food was not good,' you could describe it as 'unpalatable,' 'poorly prepared,' or 'lacking in variety.' Expanding your range of adjectives and nouns will help convey your message more effectively.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The response contains several grammatical errors, including issues with subject-verb agreement ('They don't liked') and article usage ('the food' vs 'food'). The sentence structures are mostly simple, with limited attempts at complex sentences. There are also punctuation errors, such as the space before the period in 'Mr .Sharma'. To improve, focus on mastering basic sentence structures and proofreading for common errors like verb tense consistency and punctuation. Incorporating a wider variety of complex sentence structures will also help demonstrate better grammatical control.

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

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