Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 13 · 2026-11-03

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 John Smith,

I hope this letter findsyou well! My name is nancy and we had a reservation at your hotel on november 3rd, 2026. By writing this letter i would like to leave a review for your hotel upon the basis of the comments by each participants.

First of all, the set up of the hall was well organised and it was well ventilated and brighten. And the staff was welcomimg. When it comes to navigating the hallway, the sign were posted to locate the hall conveniently.

However, there were some concern voiced by the staff regarding the quality of food. Firstly, staff members did not leave the signs if the food was non veg or veg so it was quite hard for the staff to figure out. Secondly, The sandwiches were all soggy and were inedible as it was stale. It was clarufied the management that for beverages only soft drinks should be sreved as it was business meeting but cocktails were served by the staff.

In future, to improve the food service in the future, staff should double check with the manager before serving the food. And also they should have received hte email about the likes and dislikes of the food.

I hpe you will take this into consideration.

Kind regards

harpreet kaur

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The letter covers all three requested points: it praises the hall, ventilation, staff and signs; explains problems with food labels, soggy sandwiches and unsuitable drinks; and recommends checking requirements before serving. These details make the response relevant and give the manager a clear sense of the complaints. However, some points are not fully explained: for example, the concern about cocktails is difficult to follow because the sentence does not clarify what had been agreed or why cocktails were inappropriate. The suggestions are also quite general, and the letter does not clearly state how the hotel could improve food quality itself. Develop the reasons and offer specific measures, such as labelling dishes and checking freshness and dietary preferences in advance. The salutation also does not follow the requested opening.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response has a coherent overall arrangement: it opens with the purpose of writing, moves from positive feedback to complaints, and ends with recommendations and a polite closing. Paragraphing helps distinguish these stages, while markers such as “First of all,” “However,” and “Firstly” guide the reader through the points. This clear structure is a strength. Some connections are less smooth or precise, though. The sentence about beverages and cocktails is difficult to interpret, and “In future, to improve the food service in the future” repeats the same time reference. The opening also includes several details before the feedback begins. To make progression more natural, use concise transitions and ensure each sentence clearly links the problem to its consequence or proposed solution.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use a relevant range of vocabulary for a formal complaint, including “well organised,” “ventilated,” “quality of food,” “inedible,” and “take this into consideration.” These choices communicate the main points and show some ability to use topic-specific language. However, several spelling and word-choice errors are noticeable, including “welcomimg,” “clarufied,” “sreved,” and “hpe.” Some phrases are also unnatural or imprecise: “leave the signs” does not clearly express that food labels were missing, and “upon the basis of the comments” is unnecessarily awkward. Aim for accurate, conventional collocations and proofread spelling. More precise wording would make the complaints easier to understand and give the letter a more professional tone.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The letter includes both simple statements and attempts at longer structures, such as “When it comes to navigating the hallway…” and the sentence explaining the drinks served. The overall meaning is usually recoverable, but errors occur across verb forms, agreement, articles and sentence construction. For example, “I hope this letter findsyou well” should use “finds,” while “the sign were posted” needs plural agreement or a singular noun. “The staff was” also has an agreement issue in this context, and “It was clarified the management” is missing a grammatical link such as “to.” Punctuation and capitalisation are inconsistent, including the capitalised “The” after “Firstly.” Build accuracy with shorter, complete sentences first, then add complex structures only when their relationships are clear.

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

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