Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 13 · 2026-10-16

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 am writing this letter to you, that recently a general meeting of my company was held at your hotel where i was looking after all the things.My colleagues were put some drawback about the food of your hotel although they like the environment other than this.

Peoples who attend this programme were praised about the location as well as environment and cleanliness of your hotel.However the stuffs were so co-operative and professional so that all of the participants enjoyed the meeting.

But food that served in your hotel was not fulfill our desire because some items were missing from the order.Some of the foods are too spicy and some are not tasty enough as a result someone could not finish their meal.Although food is the main attraction of any programme but we had get some bad experience here.

In coming days you should keep your food more tasty and reliable for your guest.At first, you can change your chef and try to monitor regularly what was cooking in your kitchem as well.

It would be a great pleasure if you look after this matter in future.

Yours faithfully,

Mr.Asif

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You address all three required points: you mention the hotel’s location, atmosphere, cleanliness and helpful staff; explain that items were missing and some dishes were too spicy or not tasty; and recommend improving food quality and monitoring preparation. The purpose of the letter is clear and the tone is generally appropriate. However, some points are less fully developed than others. For example, the positive feedback is listed rather than linked to how it helped the meeting, and the proposed response focuses on changing the chef without explaining practical steps such as checking orders, offering milder options or collecting dietary preferences. Develop these suggestions and make the reasons for dissatisfaction more precise to strengthen the response.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The letter has a clear overall arrangement: an opening explains the reason for writing, followed by positive comments, complaints, suggestions and a closing. This makes the main message easy to follow. Paragraphing is generally appropriate, and transitions such as “However” and “In coming days” help signal changes in focus. At times, though, connections are mechanical or unclear. The opening sentence combines several ideas, while “although they like the environment other than this” makes the relationship between the praise and complaint difficult to follow. Some linking words, including “Although” before “food is the main attraction,” do not clearly express the intended relationship. Use simpler, more precise transitions and clearer references between ideas.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use enough vocabulary to communicate the main points, including “location,” “cleanliness,” “professional,” “spicy,” and “participants.” There are also attempts at more formal expressions, such as “co-operative” and “look after this matter.” However, several word choices and collocations are inaccurate or unnatural, which sometimes makes the reader pause: “put some drawback,” “praised about,” “fulfill our desire,” and “reliable” for food quality. “Peoples” and “kitchem” also show errors in word form and spelling. Aim for precise, natural phrases suited to a formal complaint, such as “raised concerns,” “praised the hotel for,” and “meet our expectations.” This would make the message clearer and more professional.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and complex sentences, including clauses with “although,” “because” and “as a result,” and the overall meaning remains understandable. However, some errors in sentence structure, verb forms, agreement, articles and punctuation reduce accuracy. For example, “I am writing this letter to you, that recently…” has an incorrect clause connection, and “food that served” needs a passive verb form. In “some items were missing from the order,” the sentence is clear, but “some of the foods are too spicy” shifts tense unnecessarily when describing the past event. Capitalisation and spacing after full stops also need attention. Practise forming clear past-tense sentences and checking each clause for a complete, correctly connected structure.

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