Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 13 · 2026-08-28

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 hope you are doing well. I am writing this letter to express my concern regarding the service you provided. Firstly, I am Shraddha who recently organized an all-day meeting at your hotel for all my colleagues, including me. Everything was well organized, customer service was outstanding, the environment was peaceful and well maintained, and we enjoyed it a lot. The hotel staff was very friendly in nature and helped us with many things. However, my participants did not like the lunch food. They said it was too spicy and tasteless, and there were limited options for vegetarian people, as most of my colleagues are vegetarian.

Moreover, to improve this, you should add more vegetarian dishes and hire a good chef who can make delicious food, or provide the chef with appropriate training on how people's choices relate to the dishes.

Thank you for considering my feedback. I hope these suggestions will help you in future.

Your sincerely,

S

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

You have addressed all three bullet points required by the prompt. You clearly identified the positive aspects of the hotel, explained the issues with the lunch service, and provided constructive suggestions for improvement. The tone is appropriate for a formal letter of complaint. To reach a higher band, ensure that your ideas are slightly more developed; for instance, you could have elaborated on the impact of the poor lunch on your meeting's success. However, you have fulfilled the requirements of the task effectively and maintained a consistent focus throughout.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The letter is logically organized with a clear introduction, body, and conclusion. You use basic cohesive devices such as 'Firstly', 'However', and 'Moreover' to transition between ideas. While the paragraphing is functional, the flow between sentences could be improved by using a wider variety of linking words or referencing techniques to avoid a slightly mechanical feel. The progression of ideas is clear, and the reader can easily follow your argument from the positive feedback to the specific complaints and final recommendations.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for this task. Phrases like 'outstanding', 'well maintained', and 'appropriate training' are used correctly. There are some minor issues with word choice, such as 'lunch food' (which is slightly unnatural) and 'friendly in nature' (which is a bit wordy). To improve, try to incorporate more precise collocations. For example, instead of saying 'lunch food', you could refer to the 'catering service' or 'lunch menu'. Overall, the vocabulary is sufficient to convey your message clearly without any confusion.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.5

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. Most of your sentences are clear and error-free, which ensures that communication is never impeded. There are a few minor grammatical slips, such as 'Your sincerely' (which should be 'Yours sincerely') and the slightly awkward phrasing 'most of my colleagues are vegetarian' within a sentence about the food options. However, your control over basic grammar is good, and you show an ability to construct complex sentences, even if they are not always perfectly executed. The punctuation is generally accurate.

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

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