Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 13 · 2026-10-28

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 this letter to the manager of the hotel regarding the awful food provided for lunch during our meeting day.

Firstly, I would like to address that all your hotel staff was welcoming. Moreover, there was distinct right of foods as well as calm. Music make the hotel surroundings more wonderful.

Further more, the participant were despair because of high spices and the food was also seems not freshly made. Therefore, if you discuss the food preference of the visitors before meeting day and make the fresh food on the day of get together, would make the dishes more wonderful.

Yours faithfully

Armaan

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You address the main points by praising the staff and hotel atmosphere, explaining that the lunch was too spicy and did not seem fresh, and suggesting that the hotel ask about guests’ preferences and prepare fresh food. However, the praise is not fully clear: “distinct right of foods” is difficult to understand, and the task asks what participants liked about the hotel. The reasons for dissatisfaction and the proposed improvements are relevant but brief and not developed with examples or detail. The response is also 43 words below the required minimum, so there is limited space to explain each point fully. Expand the feedback on the hotel’s positive features and specify practical changes to the lunch service.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The letter has a recognisable structure, with an opening, a paragraph about positive features, a paragraph about the food and a suitable closing. “Firstly,” “Moreover,” and “Therefore” help signal the relationship between ideas, so the overall arrangement is coherent. However, the progression within the paragraphs is sometimes difficult to follow because some phrases are unclear, particularly “there was distinct right of foods as well as calm.” The transition from the hotel’s atmosphere to the lunch complaint could also be smoother. Use clear topic sentences and connect each point explicitly—for example, separate the hotel’s facilities and atmosphere from the participants’ comments about lunch. This would make the organisation feel less dependent on basic linking words.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some relevant vocabulary for a formal complaint, including “participants,” “food preference,” and “freshly made,” and the reader can identify the main concerns. However, the range is limited, and several word choices or combinations are inaccurate enough to make meaning unclear. “Distinct right of foods” does not communicate the intended positive feature, while “high spices” and “despair” are not natural choices in this context. “Awful” conveys dissatisfaction but is quite blunt for a formal letter to a hotel manager. Aim for precise, natural phrases such as “a good selection of dishes,” “too spicy,” and “disappointed.” A wider range of accurate service-related vocabulary would make the complaint clearer and more appropriately formal.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response attempts both simple statements and a longer conditional suggestion, but control is uneven and errors sometimes make the message harder to understand. For example, “all your hotel staff was welcoming” has an agreement error, and “Music make the hotel surroundings more wonderful” has an incorrect verb form. In “the food was also seems not freshly made,” the verb construction is faulty. The final suggestion beginning “Therefore, if you discuss…” is incomplete because it lacks a clear main clause. Use a complete structure such as “If you ask guests about their preferences and prepare fresh meals on the day, the lunch will be more suitable.” Check subject–verb agreement and ensure each sentence has a complete clause.

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