Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 13 · 2026-09-29

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 sir or madam,

I hope you are doing well. I am writing this letter to inform you that my company recently held an all-day meeting at your hotel on 20 September. Meeting held in room number 107. The meeting went very smoothly, and the environment of the hotel was supportive and calm.

Moreover, even though the participants liked the hotel environment, there was one thing that they did not like the food that served for lunch. Participants liked the taste of lunch and the food was multicultural, but the food was not properly warm.

the hotel could address this problem and do not occur in future I will very much appreciate. i will continue to attend future meetings due to the hotel environment.

Please let us know if the hotel needs any questions.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response covers all three bullet points required in the task instructions: it mentions what participants liked about the hotel, explains why they were unhappy about the food, and suggests improvements for the future. However, the development of some ideas is rather basic, such as the incomplete sentence fragment 'Meeting held in room number 107' and the brief recommendation regarding the food temperature. Furthermore, the response has a significant length issue, falling short of the required 150-word minimum at 134 words. This under-length penalty prevents the task achievement score from reaching a higher band, resulting in a score of 5.5.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The letter maintains a clear overall progression and structure, beginning with an appropriate salutation and closing with a final remark. Paragraphing is attempted, though the division is somewhat fragmented due to short sentences and incomplete phrasing like 'Meeting held in room number 107.' Cohesive devices are used, such as 'Moreover' and 'even though,' but referencing is sometimes awkward, particularly in the final paragraph where the sentence structure breaks down entirely ('the hotel could address this problem and do not occur in future I will very much appreciate'). Consequently, cohesion is occasionally faulty and mechanical, placing the response firmly at Band 5.5.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is generally adequate for a functional letter, including words like 'participants,' 'environment,' 'multicultural,' and 'appreciate.' However, the range is limited and repetition occurs, such as frequent reuse of the word 'food' and 'hotel.' There are also word choice and collocation inaccuracies, notably 'the food was not properly warm' instead of 'properly heated' or 'warm enough.' While communication is not severely impeded, the lexical limitations and lack of less common vocabulary restrict the score to a 5.5.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as 'I am writing this letter to inform you that...' and 'even though the participants liked...'. However, there are notable grammatical errors and awkward phrasing, including a fragment ('Meeting held in room number 107.'), an omitted auxiliary ('the food that served for lunch'), and a severely distorted final sentence structure ('the hotel could address this problem and do not occur in future I will very much appreciate'). These frequent errors and instances of faulty complex structures cause some difficulty for the reader, justifying a band score of 5.0.

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