Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 13 · 2026-10-07

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/Mam

Husnain here from the Xyz company, Yesterday my company arranged a meeting with our vendors in your hotel.

The environment of your hotel was very good and it was a good experience with you, the meeting hall, the furniture, the decorations all was well managed in a good manaer. our vendor also was very happy with that environment.

but here i am writing to express some complaints with you regarding the qualty of food provided by your hotel. here is some issues

1- The food was cold

2- The food was not fresh

3- Food was smelly

4- The presentation was not good

I am writing to express these issues to you for a better future improvement. because your hotel has good reputation in the town but these type of issues can destroy your goodwill. You should improve these issues by following up with you team. due to these reasons our vendor was very unhappy and all the good thoughts become bad regarding the hotel. please try to improve these issues. Thanks

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You address all three bullet points: you praise the hotel’s environment, meeting hall, furniture and decorations; explain that the lunch was cold, not fresh, smelly and poorly presented; and ask the manager to improve matters by following up with the team. These details make the complaint relevant and understandable. However, the positive feedback and proposed solution are brief, and the reasons for dissatisfaction are presented as a list rather than explained with context. The request to the manager is also general: specify practical steps, such as checking food temperature and freshness before serving or reviewing the menu. The letter’s purpose is clear, but fuller development of the points and a more explicit, professional request would make the response more complete.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable sequence: it introduces the meeting, describes what participants liked, raises the food complaint and ends with a request for improvement. The numbered list makes the specific problems easy to identify. However, the organisation is not consistently controlled: the praise and complaint run together, and the list interrupts the flow of a formal letter. Linking phrases such as “However” and “As a result” could connect the sections and show how the food affected the participants’ overall impression. The closing “Thanks” is abrupt, and the letter would benefit from clear paragraphs and a conventional sign-off. Some connections, such as “due to these reasons,” are repetitive or unclear, so progression is present but uneven.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use enough vocabulary to communicate the main points, including “meeting hall,” “decorations,” “presentation” and “reputation.” However, the range is limited and several choices or combinations sound unnatural or imprecise, such as “some complaints with you,” “good thoughts become bad” and “follow up with you team.” Repetition of “good,” “issues” and “improve” also limits variety. Spelling errors, including “qualty” and “manaer,” are noticeable and reduce the accuracy of the message. Aim for more precise, formal expressions suited to a business letter, and check spelling carefully. For example, describe the food as “poorly presented” and explain that it “left a negative impression on our vendors.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The message is generally understandable, and you attempt to combine ideas using clauses, for example, “because your hotel has good reputation in the town but these type of issues can destroy your goodwill.” However, the range of sentence structures is limited, and errors occur frequently in sentence boundaries, agreement, articles and punctuation. In “the meeting hall, the furniture, the decorations all was well managed,” the plural list requires a plural verb, and the sentence needs clearer punctuation. “Yesterday my company arranged” also needs a more appropriate article or possessive construction, while “these type of issues” has a number-agreement error. Several sentences begin with lowercase letters or run together. Practise accurate simple sentences first, then use a few controlled complex sentences.

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