Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 13 · 2026-09-17

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 6.0)

Dear Sir,

I hope you are doing well. My company had an all day meeting in your hotel last week. It was a nice experience with your staff and management whilst afew issues. Everyone in the participants visited this place for the very first time.

They were quite impressed by the choice of designing and furnishing of the interior overall. Especially the female participants, they were mesmerized by the decorations in the lobby. The environment was quite sophisticated with a subtle background music tha enhaced the overall vibe. The beauty of turkish style chandelier hanging in the heighted roof amplified the whole grace of hotel.

Inspite of the amazing decor, participants were disappointed with the food that was served. Every dish was bland and had almost no salt in some dishes. The steak served was not cooked properly. Infact, the complimentary soup was also cold and in edible.

Being new in this area as a hoteling manager, you choosed the wrong chef. I will suggest that kindly change your kitchen staff who doesn't know how to cook basic cuisines. Hire certified and trustworthy chefs who will maintain the hotels repute.

Yours affectionately,

Muzdalfa Zain

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response covers all parts of the prompt well. You successfully identified what the participants liked about the hotel, such as the interior design, lighting, and lobby decor. You also clearly explained why they were unhappy with the food, mentioning that it was bland, lacked salt, the steak was undercooked, and the soup was cold and inedible. Furthermore, you provided a clear suggestion for improvement by recommending that the management hire certified and trustworthy chefs. However, the tone in the final paragraph becomes overly direct and slightly inappropriate for a formal complaint letter, using phrases like 'you choosed the wrong chef' and 'who doesn't know how to cook basic cuisines,' which detracts slightly from the professional register expected in a formal business correspondence. Despite this tonal lapse, all bullet points are addressed, leading to a solid band score.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The letter is organised into clear paragraphs, each serving a distinct purpose corresponding to the task requirements. The introduction sets the context, the second paragraph details the positive aspects, the third covers the food complaints, and the final paragraph offers recommendations. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'Especially the female participants,' 'Inspite of the amazing decor,' and 'Infact,' which help connect ideas. However, paragraphing and sentence transitions can sometimes feel a bit mechanical or abrupt. For instance, the transition into the fourth paragraph lacks a smooth bridging sentence, and there are minor issues with referencing and punctuation. Nevertheless, the overall arrangement is coherent, and the progression of ideas is easy to follow throughout the response.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

You attempt a good range of vocabulary with some less common items such as 'sophisticated,' 'subtle background music,' 'mesmerized,' and 'repute.' However, there are several lexical errors and awkward word choices throughout the text. For example, 'whilst afew issues' is grammatically and lexically incorrect, 'choice of designing' should be 'design,' 'hanging in the heighted roof' contains a misuse of the adjective, 'hoteling manager' is unnatural, and 'inedible' is written as two words ('in edible'). There are also spelling errors such as 'afew' (a few), 'enhaced' (enhanced), 'turkish' (Turkish - requires capitalisation), 'Inspite' (In spite), and 'choosed' (chose). These inaccuracies show a lack of precision, capping the lexical score at this level.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The response demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as participial phrases ('Being new in this area as a hoteling manager...') and relative clauses. However, there are frequent grammatical errors and awkward structures. Notable errors include 'had an all day meeting' (should be 'all-day'), 'Everyone in the participants visited' (incorrect prepositional phrase; should be 'All of the participants visited'), 'the steak served was not cooked properly' (acceptable, but followed by 'Infact, the complimentary soup was also cold and in edible'), and 'you choosed the wrong chef' (incorrect past tense of choose). Punctuation and capitalisation errors also appear frequently, such as missing commas and uncapitalised proper adjectives. These errors occasionally distract the reader, though they do not fully impede overall communication.

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

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