Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 13 · 2026-10-22

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 in reference to a recent all-day meeting oragnised at your hotel. I am writing to express my dissatisfaction with the food which was surved for lunch.

Although my collegues had over-all positive feedback about the locality and cleanliness of hotel.

Such as they liked that hotel is quit outside of the city traffic but within the reach of every major aminiteis.

The overall food presentation was very professionaly done but somehow my collegues did not like the food surved. Someof them found food was not warm enough as well as some tables were not properly cleaned.They aslo expressed their strong opinions about the quality of water.

with outmost respect I would like to suggest some ideas about the food for future reference such as hotel can contect the organiser about food preferences and dietry restrictions which can possible help overcome any potential issues.

Your's Sincerely

Abby.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You address all three points: you mention the hotel’s location and cleanliness, explain concerns about food temperature, table cleanliness and water quality, and suggest asking organisers about preferences and dietary restrictions. These details make the complaint relevant and give the manager a practical step to consider. However, some points are less fully explained than others. For example, “the quality of water” is raised without saying what was wrong with it, and the suggestion focuses on gathering preferences rather than how the hotel could improve the lunch itself. Develop these points with specific examples or actions, such as keeping dishes warm and checking water quality, to make the purpose of the letter more complete.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The letter follows a generally sensible order: it introduces the meeting, describes positive feedback, explains the complaints, and ends with a suggestion. This gives the reader an overall sense of the message. However, the ideas are not consistently grouped into clear paragraphs, and some transitions make the progression feel abrupt. The sentence beginning “Although my colleagues…” is incomplete, while “Such as…” introduces a fragment rather than a connected example. The shift from food presentation to complaints also needs a clearer link. Use separate paragraphs for the hotel’s strengths, the lunch problems, and your recommendations, and connect examples with complete sentences to make the organisation easier to follow.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use a relevant range of vocabulary for a formal complaint, including “dissatisfaction,” “locality,” “cleanliness,” “preferences,” and “dietary restrictions.” These choices help communicate the main points, and the tone is generally appropriate. However, spelling errors and awkward or imprecise expressions are noticeable, including “oragnised,” “surved,” “quit outside,” and “strong opinions about the quality of water.” Some phrases also sound unnatural, such as “for future reference” when introducing recommendations. Choose more precise collocations and proofread spelling; for instance, explain that participants were concerned about the water’s quality rather than saying they expressed strong opinions. This would make the vocabulary clearer and more natural.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, including the clause “Although my colleagues had…” and the recommendation about contacting the organiser. The main message is usually understandable, but some sentence structures are incomplete or awkward. “Although my colleagues had overall positive feedback…” is a dependent clause without a main clause, and “Such as they liked…” is also a fragment. There are also errors in articles and sentence construction, as in “liked that hotel is…” and “some tables were not properly cleaned” following an unclear connection to the previous point. Build complete sentences around subordinate clauses and check that each sentence has a clear subject and main verb. More accurate sentence boundaries would improve control.

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