Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 13 · 2026-09-27

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 6.5)

Dear Sir or Madam,

The intent of this correspondence is to provide the feedback about your hotel from our team regarding the likes and dislikes of the restaurant.

There are several positive things about this place with which our contestants are satisfied, such as the ambience, cleanliness, Wi-Fi availability, and friendliness of staff in particular. Further explaining about the employees, they served us very well, and we got the table just right after we reached there.

Moving towards the dissatifaction, we ordered different cuisines as per the employees taste. We clearly mentioned that the spice level must be mild. However, the food we recieved was not up to par, not only that spices in the dishes was compromised but we also a hair in chicken noodle soup. This experience just broke the trust of our participants towards this food chain.

I kindly wanted to suggest you some of the recommendations to avoid this experience in the future. To begin with, backroom staff must be trained appropriately as far as cleanliness and expectations of specific area is concerned. For Instance, they must be wearing hairnuts all the time along with using gloves while making food. Moreover, more kitchen helpers should be hired considering the rush hours to keep in mind that each customer is valued, served correctly.

Kind Regards,

Suman

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.0

The response successfully covers all bullet points required by the task prompt. You clearly mentioned what the participants liked about the hotel, such as the ambience, cleanliness, Wi-Fi availability, and staff friendliness. You also explained the dissatisfaction with the food, specifically highlighting the incorrect spice levels and finding a hair in the chicken noodle soup. Finally, you provided clear and actionable suggestions for improvement, recommending proper staff training on hygiene, hairnets, and gloves, as well as hiring more kitchen helpers during rush hours. The tone is appropriate for a formal complaint letter, maintaining a professional yet firm stance throughout. The ideas are well-developed and fully address the demands of a general task 1 letter. Therefore, this fulfills the criteria for a strong band score.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The letter exhibits a clear overall progression and logical organisation. Paragraphs are used appropriately to separate different points, starting with the purpose of the letter, moving to the positive aspects, then addressing the food issues, and concluding with constructive recommendations. Cohesive devices are employed to guide the reader through the text, such as 'Moving towards the dissatisfaction', 'To begin with', and 'Moreover'. However, there are some slightly awkward transitions and referencing issues, such as 'Further explaining about the employees, they served us very well', which detract slightly from complete fluidity. Paragraphing is generally logical, though grouping the positive aspects and the food complaints into clearer thematic paragraphs could enhance readability. Overall, the text is easy to follow.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary suitable for a formal complaint letter, attempting some less common phrases such as 'correspondence', 'ambience', and 'sub-standard' (implied). However, there are several lexical errors and awkward word choices that slightly impede natural flow. For instance, 'contestants' is incorrectly used instead of 'participants' or 'attendees', and 'dissatifaction' contains a spelling error. Phrases like 'food chain' are used inaccurately to describe a single hotel restaurant. While you attempt to use more sophisticated terms, inaccuracies in collocation and word choice place this writing firmly in the band 6 category.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

You demonstrate a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, attempting various subordinate clauses and conditional constructions. There are instances of good grammatical control, such as 'However, the food we received was not up to par...'. Nevertheless, grammatical and mechanical errors are noticeable throughout the text. There are spelling mistakes like 'recieved' and 'hairnuts' (hairnets), and punctuation and phrasing errors such as 'we also a hair in chicken noodle soup' (missing verb 'found') and 'Backroom staff must be trained appropriately as far as cleanliness and expectations of specific area is concerned' (plural/singular agreement issues). These errors do not completely obscure the meaning, but they occur frequently enough to prevent a higher score.

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

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