Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 13 · 2026-10-04

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,

I'm writing in regard for the meeting which is recently organised in your local hotel. I want to give some feedback about the hotel.

Our meeting was successfully held at your palce. The environment was really good, peaceful and greenary scene attract us. The staff in the hotel was kind, polite , helpful and generous. The food service system wasn't bad . The meeting hall was clean and hygienic . The breakfast was healthy which include bread, egg, sweetcorn and different fruits, but we were unhappy about the food that was serve for lunch.

The lunch was already becoming cold while serving . The taste of it wasn't good enough which is salty and more spicy. participants at the meeting said they liked the hotel, but they aren't satisfied by the lunch that are provided.

To improve the food for lunch you should serve after the completion of meeting and focus on quality like taste and preferences of customers. I hope you'll improve in future . Best wishes for this journey.

Best wishes,

Radhika

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses all parts of the prompt, successfully mentioning what participants liked about the hotel, why they were unhappy with the food, and suggesting improvements for the future. However, the development of these ideas remains somewhat limited and partial. For example, while the positive aspects of the hotel and the issue with the cold, overly salty lunch are stated, they lack fuller elaboration. To move to a higher band, the writer needs to extend and support all points more thoroughly, providing richer details about both the positive experiences and the specific shortcomings of the catering service.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

There is a general attempt to organise the letter with an introduction, body, and conclusion, and the overall arrangement holds together. However, progression is somewhat disjointed, and cohesive devices are inadequate or occasionally misused, leading to a mechanical feel. For instance, the transition between discussing the hotel environment and introducing the food problem feels abrupt. Paragraphing is used, but grouping ideas more logically would improve the flow. To achieve a higher band, the writer should employ a wider range of cohesive devices more accurately and ensure smoother transitions between sentences and paragraphs to establish a clear, progressive structure.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is minimally adequate for the task, featuring basic items such as 'peaceful', 'kind', and 'clean'. The writer attempts some less common vocabulary, such as 'generous' and 'hygienic', but there are noticeable errors in word choice, spelling, and word form. Examples include 'in regard for' instead of 'regarding', 'greenary' instead of 'greenery', and 'serve' instead of 'served'. These lexical inaccuracies and occasional awkward collocations cause some minor difficulty for the reader. To improve, the student should expand their working vocabulary and focus on precise word choices and correct word forms.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The writing demonstrates a limited range of structures, relying mostly on simple sentences with frequent attempts at complex forms that are often faulty. There are noticeable errors in verb tenses, subject-verb agreement, and prepositions within grammatical patterns. For example, the writer shifts awkwardly between past and present tenses ('the meeting which is recently organised', 'The lunch was already becoming cold', 'the lunch that are provided'), and misuses articles and prepositions. These frequent grammatical errors can cause difficulty for the reader. To reach the next band, the writer needs to increase the proportion of error-free sentences and demonstrate better control over complex grammatical structures and tense consistency.

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