Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 13 · 2026-09-26

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 this letter finds you well. I am writing this to express my views on your hotel's service.

As I recently organised an one-day meeting at your hotel for my company. All the participants were really happy with your service. They all liked the unique sitting arrangement as well as the opera system. Your service was also very fast.

However, some of them complained about the food we had in lunch. Even after mentioning the waiter to keep our food less spicy. They served us extreme spicy food. Moreover, the drinks they served were so bad in taste that we had to throw it.

Furthermore, I request you to ask your employers to stay alert when they are noting down the orders. You should also ask your chefs to improve the quality of the food or you can hire better professional chefs. I would really appreciate if you could work on my advice.

Thanks for your time and service.

Yours sincerely,

Kunwar

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.0

The candidate successfully covers all bullet points required by the task. The letter opens by stating what participants liked about the hotel, specifically the unique sitting arrangement, the 'opera system' (likely meaning audio/presentation equipment), and fast service. It then clearly explains why they were unhappy about the food, mentioning that it was excessively spicy despite prior requests and that the drinks tasted bad. Finally, appropriate suggestions are made for the manager, such as instructing staff to pay closer attention to orders and improving food quality or hiring professional chefs. The tone is appropriate for a formal complaint letter, and all parts of the prompt are fully addressed, fitting the Band 7 descriptor.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The letter has a clear overall structure and follows standard conventions for a formal letter, starting with a suitable opening and closing appropriately. Ideas are logically sequenced, moving from the positive aspects of the meeting to the complaints about the lunch, and finally offering constructive suggestions. Paragraphing is used adequately to separate different points, such as the praise in the second paragraph, the complaints in the third, and the recommendations in the fourth. However, some cohesive devices feel a bit mechanical or abrupt, such as starting paragraphs with 'However,' and 'Furthermore, I request you...' Nonetheless, the logical progression is clear throughout, aligning well with the requirements for Band 6.5 or 7.0.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully communicating meaning. There are attempts at less common lexical items, such as 'unique sitting arrangement' and 'professional chefs.' However, there are notable lexical errors and unnatural collocations that detract from precision, such as 'an one-day meeting' (grammatical error spilling into lexical choice), 'in lunch' instead of 'for lunch,' 'extreme spicy food' instead of 'extremely spicy food,' and 'bad in taste' instead of 'poor taste' or 'bad-tasting.' Because these errors occasionally impede natural flow while communication remains clear, the vocabulary performance sits comfortably at Band 6.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating some control over sentence structures. However, there are several noticeable grammatical errors throughout the text. For instance, 'As I recently organised an one-day meeting...' is a sentence fragment dependent on a clause that has no main verb phrase completed properly. Other errors include 'an one-day meeting' (article error), 'mentioning the waiter to keep' (awkward phrasing/preposition choice), and 'we had to throw it' referring back to plural 'drinks'. Despite these frequent minor errors and punctuation slips, meaning is not obscured, and the grammar aligns with the Band 6 descriptor.

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

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