Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 13 · 2026-10-14

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/Madam,

I am writing to express my dissatisfaction with the food we had recently at your hotel during our annual day meeting of our company conducted at your hotel last week.

After the meeting, we conducted a survey among the employees to share their experience about the hotel. Most of the employees liked the ambience, toilets are well maintained through out the day and hotel staff are so supportive. However, the variety of food served is so limited, many of them expected a sea food in the buffet but it's not available in the menu on that day so many people very dissappointed becuase when we check the review before selecting your place we heard that your hotel is famous for sea food. The chicken starter was too oily.

I would suggest to check the quality of the food before serving to the customer, In addition to that, under any circumstances if your not able to provide any particular food it is advisable to inform to the co

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You address the main purpose by describing positive features, explaining the lunch complaint, and beginning to recommend improvements. The specific points about the ambience, clean toilets, supportive staff, missing seafood, and oily chicken make the letter relevant. However, the final recommendation is incomplete: the response ends with “inform to the co…”, so the manager is not given a clear, finished action to take. The reasons for dissatisfaction are understandable but could be developed more fully—for example, explain how the limited menu affected participants or suggest offering dietary choices. A complete closing request would also make the purpose clearer and ensure all parts of the task are fully covered.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable sequence: it opens with the reason for writing, reports the survey findings, and then moves to suggestions. The contrast signalled by “However” helps distinguish the positive feedback from the complaints. At times, though, several ideas are crowded into one long sentence, particularly the sentence beginning “However, the variety of food served…”. This makes the progression harder to follow, and the final sentence is cut off, leaving the letter without a clear ending. Separate the positive comments, food problems, and recommendations into distinct paragraphs, and use full stops to make each point easier to process. A conventional closing would also complete the letter’s organisation.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant vocabulary for the situation, including “ambience”, “supportive”, “variety”, “buffet”, and “quality of the food”. These choices communicate the main points, but the range is somewhat limited and several expressions are imprecise or awkward, such as “annual day meeting” and “share their experience about the hotel”. Spelling errors in “dissappointed” and “becuase” are noticeable, while “sea food” is usually written as one word, “seafood”. Aim for more natural collocations and accurate spelling, especially in a formal complaint. For instance, describe the event as a “company meeting” and say participants “shared their feedback on the hotel”.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more extended sentence forms, and the opening sentence clearly establishes the context. However, complex sentences are often difficult to control: the long sentence beginning “However” contains several clauses joined without clear punctuation, and “toilets are well maintained” shifts awkwardly within the list of employee feedback. There are also errors in agreement and sentence construction, such as “many people very disappointed” and “if your not able to provide”. The final sentence is incomplete, which further affects clarity. Use shorter sentences to express each complaint, check that each clause has a subject and verb, and review verb forms, articles, and punctuation before finishing.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.