Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 13 · 2026-10-29

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 6.5)

Dear Sir or Madam,

I am writing to share my feedback on your hotel’s service. We held a meeting last week, and the participants appreciated your service, but they were quite disappointed with the hotel’s food service.

First of all, I am thankful for your welcoming staff and service. The hall exceeded my expectations, and all the amenities provided by your staff were fully satisfactory. The sound system and seating arrangements fulfilled our purposes.

However, the participants were quite disappointed with the food service because the food was delayed and a bit cool. The staff did not serve the food properly because there were not enough staff members.

I would like to give you some suggestions to improve your service. You should increase your food-serving staff members and provide sufficient training for the service to gain more customers and enhance your goodwill. Apart from that all members and I were so happy and grateful for your service and support.

I hope this feedback helps your improvement.

Yours faithfully,

Vidhi

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

You address all three points in the prompt: you identify the welcoming staff, hall, sound system and seating as positives, explain that lunch was delayed and cool, and recommend more serving staff and training. The complaint is clear and relevant. The positive feedback is more fully specified than the proposed improvements, however: “increase your food-serving staff members” and “provide sufficient training” would be stronger if you explained how these steps would ensure timely service and keep meals warm. The phrase “Apart from that all members and I were so happy” also slightly softens the complaint without adding much detail. The letter therefore covers the task well, while some ideas remain less developed than others.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The letter has a clear overall arrangement: an opening purpose, positive comments, a paragraph explaining the problem, and a final paragraph with recommendations and a closing. “First of all” and “However” help signal the shift from praise to criticism, and the reader can follow the main points easily. Some linking is a little mechanical, though, and the final paragraph combines suggestions with renewed praise, making its focus less clear. “Apart from that” does not connect naturally to the preceding recommendations. For a more controlled progression, keep the improvement proposals together, then use a separate brief sentence to close on a courteous note.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

Your vocabulary is adequate for the purpose and includes relevant expressions such as “sound system,” “seating arrangements,” “food was delayed,” and “sufficient training.” These make the situation understandable. There is some repetition of “service” and “staff,” and a few phrases are imprecise or unnatural, including “food-serving staff members,” “fulfilled our purposes,” and “gain more customers and enhance your goodwill.” More precise collocations would make the complaint and recommendations sound more professional. You also show some range with “exceeded my expectations” and “disappointed,” but the wording is not consistently flexible or precise, which limits the impact of the letter.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.5

You use a mix of simple and more complex sentence forms, including “The participants were quite disappointed with the food service because the food was delayed and a bit cool.” Most sentences communicate their meaning clearly, and the past-tense account of the meeting is generally controlled. Some grammatical and punctuation issues remain. In “Apart from that all members and I were so happy,” a comma is needed after the introductory phrase; “all members and I” also lacks a clear reference to which members. The sentence beginning “You should increase…” is grammatically understandable but joins several purposes in a long structure, so clearer clause boundaries would improve control. Overall, errors are present but rarely obstruct understanding.

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