Band 7.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 7.0 · Cambridge IELTS 13 · 2026-10-09

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 7.0)

Dear Sir or Madam,

I recently booked your hotel to organize an all-day meeting for my company, and I am writing this letter in order express my dissatisfaction regarding the food that was served to the participants for lunch.

Since we booked the hotel for the entire day, the participants really admired the services provide to them throughout the day. The staff were extremely helpful, and the meeting arrangements were well organized. The interior was well structured with proper seating arrangements and lighting system.

Although participants appreciate the services provided by your hotel, they were disappointed with the food served to them after the meeting. In the feedback, participants pointed out that there were limited food items available on the menu. The meals not only arrived late, but also some food items were not warm enough to eat. However, they replaced cold items with new ones, but it caused inconvenience to both waiter and customer.

Lastly, I would highly suggest you to include multiple cuisines in your menu so that customers have a wide range of option to choose. Secondly, please ensure that the food which is served arrives on time, and it should be warm enough to eat. I would highly appreciate it if you could provide professional training to your kitchen staff regarding such inconveniences.

Your prompt attention to this matter is highly appreciated.

Yours faithfully,

David Smith

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.5

The letter addresses all three required points and maintains a clear, appropriately formal purpose. You identify what participants valued—helpful staff, well-organised meeting arrangements, and the interior, seating, and lighting—and explain their complaints about limited menu choices, late service, and food that was not warm. Your recommendations are relevant and specific, including offering multiple cuisines, serving food promptly, and training kitchen staff. These details extend the main ideas and make the request actionable. To strengthen the response further, explain more precisely how the food problems affected the meeting or participants, and make the link between the proposed staff training and the specific service issues clearer. Overall, the task is fully addressed, with only some scope for more developed support.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 7.0

The information follows a clear sequence: purpose, positive feedback, complaints, and recommendations. Paragraphing supports this progression, and signposts such as “Although,” “Lastly,” and “Secondly” help readers follow the shift between points. The letter is easy to understand throughout. Some linking is a little mechanical, however: “Lastly” followed by “Secondly” disrupts the order of the recommendations, and “However” introduces the replacement of cold items without making the contrast especially clear. You could group the recommendations in a more natural sequence and use references such as “this delay” or “these issues” to connect ideas smoothly. The organisation is consistently clear, while a few cohesive choices could be more flexible and precise.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.5

You use an adequate range of vocabulary for a formal complaint, including “dissatisfaction,” “participants,” “inconvenience,” and “professional training.” These choices communicate the situation clearly, and the tone is generally suitable. There are also some imprecise or unnatural expressions that limit flexibility: “interior was well structured” is not a natural way to describe a hotel’s appearance, while “multiple cuisines” and “wide range of option” could be expressed more idiomatically. “Services provide to them” also contains a word-form error, and “highly suggest” is an awkward collocation. Aim for precise phrases such as “the hotel’s interior was attractive,” “a wider choice of dishes,” and “strongly recommend.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 7.0

The letter includes a useful mix of simple and complex structures, including the contrast in “Although participants appreciate…” and the paired construction “not only arrived late, but also…”. Many sentences are clear and grammatically controlled. A few errors remain: “in order express” needs “to” before the verb, “the services provide” should use a past participle, and “participants appreciate” would be more consistent in the past tense as “appreciated.” In “I would highly suggest you to include,” the verb pattern is incorrect; use “I would suggest that you include” or “I would recommend including.” The sentence about replacing cold items also shifts between past and present (“they replaced … it caused”). Correcting these patterns would make the otherwise varied grammar more consistently accurate.

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