Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 13 · 2026-08-30

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 Madam,

i am writing this letter to give my review about your food service that I received last Monday with my clients.

I booked a VIP guest table to finalise an urgent deal with my client. We visited about half past 10 AM. Firstly, we found regular table with general public, so we got a lot of disturbance during whole meeting. Then we ordered some snacks with mild spice level. But when we eat these were very spicy. Not only this, the big issue is cleaning, your staff is not maintaining cleaning properly, such as your staff members are not washing their hands properly before providing food to people.

On the positive side, everybody liked your hotel location and decoration. I suggest you that please inform your staff the importance of cleaning and customer demand for food service. I hope you would keep eye on these things.

i will visit your hotel soon.

Yours faithfully,

Vena

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses the three bullet points required by the prompt, but it fails to follow the specific scenario provided. The prompt asks you to write about an 'all-day meeting' for your company, whereas you wrote about a 'VIP guest table' for a client meeting. Furthermore, the tone is inconsistent with a formal letter of complaint. While you mention the hotel location, the food issues, and suggestions for improvement, the content is slightly misaligned with the task instructions, which impacts the overall effectiveness of the communication.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

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 'Not only this' is used awkwardly. The progression of ideas is generally logical, but the lack of sophisticated linking words makes the flow feel somewhat disjointed. Paragraphing is present, but the transitions between the positive aspects and the complaints could be smoother to improve the overall readability.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is adequate for the task but lacks the range and precision expected at higher bands. You rely on basic descriptors like 'big issue' and 'cleaning'. There are also some inaccuracies in word choice, such as 'maintaining cleaning' instead of 'maintaining hygiene' or 'cleanliness'. The phrase 'keep eye on these things' is informal and not suitable for a formal letter to a manager. To improve, focus on using more precise collocations and a more formal tone appropriate for a business complaint.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

There are several grammatical errors throughout the text, including issues with articles ('found regular table'), verb tense consistency ('when we eat' instead of 'when we ate'), and sentence structure. The use of 'i' instead of 'I' is a recurring error that should be avoided. While you attempt some complex sentences, they often contain errors that slightly impede the flow. A greater focus on basic grammatical accuracy, such as subject-verb agreement and proper noun capitalization, is necessary to reach a higher band.

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

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