Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-08-06

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

You have just read an article in an international travel magazine which contained some information about your town that is incorrect.

Write a letter to the editor of the magazine. In your letter

• correct the information in the article
• explain why it is important for the magazine to give correct information
• suggest what the magazine should do about this situation

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 inform you that you have mentioned some miscellaneous information about my hometown in your recently published magazine. I would like to provide you some correction about that if you don't mind my suggestions.

In the article, I have seen that there are lots of information about my city. However, I found that you have mentioned about some cultural museum, lake and mountains. In this, magazine includes some false data. Which are regarding beach on lake are not clean and maintained.

In order to this, I would say not only locals who visit lake and use beach for fun and enjoyment. Their are also tourist who like to spend time at that locations with their friend and family. It seems that your words in magazine blaming locals. It should provide negative image in others mind.

I would suggest that you can change words in your publish from locals to humans or tourist and human. Reason is all do visit and make some mash over there so all are responsible for this.

Your faithfully,

Gautam

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

You have addressed all three bullet points of the task: correcting the information, explaining the importance of accuracy, and suggesting a solution. However, the development of these points is somewhat limited. The explanation regarding why accuracy is important is slightly unclear, and the suggestion to change 'locals' to 'humans' is not entirely logical or professional in a formal letter context. To improve, ensure your arguments are more fully developed and presented in a tone appropriate for a formal letter to an editor. The purpose of the letter is clear, but the execution lacks the necessary depth and formal register required for a higher band.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The letter is organised into paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the structure. However, the use of cohesive devices is often mechanical or inaccurate. For example, 'In order to this' is an incorrect collocation, and the transition between ideas is sometimes abrupt. The referencing is occasionally unclear, such as in the second paragraph where the connection between the magazine's claims and the impact on locals is difficult to follow. Improving the use of linking words and ensuring that each paragraph has a clear, singular focus will help improve the flow and logical progression of your writing.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

Your vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, but there are several instances of imprecise word choice and awkward phrasing. For example, 'miscellaneous information' is used incorrectly here, as it implies a variety of unrelated items rather than 'inaccurate' or 'incorrect' information. Similarly, 'make some mash' is not a standard English idiom. You attempt to use a range of vocabulary, but the lack of precision and occasional misuse of words hinder the clarity of your message. Focusing on learning common collocations and using words in their correct context will significantly enhance your lexical score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors throughout the text. Issues include subject-verb agreement ('Their are also tourist'), article usage ('the lake', 'a negative image'), and sentence fragments ('Which are regarding beach on lake are not clean'). While these errors do not completely prevent the reader from understanding your meaning, they are frequent enough to cause some difficulty. To improve, focus on basic sentence construction, specifically ensuring that every sentence has a clear subject and verb, and pay closer attention to pluralisation and article usage.

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

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