Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-09-16

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 make some corrections in your magazine regarding a town information.

Firstly I would like to thank you for publishing about my town, Bathinda in your international magazine but after reading the whole article I came to know that the provided information such as backword infrastructure, less facilities, unappropriate educational system which is totally incorrect.

Additionally, as your magazines published in all around the world so each and every articale supposed to be true and verified at certain level because in these days magazines are main source of knowldege for magazine lover, who blindly believe on it.

Although the article was allready printed a few days back, but still we could try to solve this problem. if you could consider my suggestion, I want to requst you reprint another post which cosist right information and from be verify everything before publishing.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Reagrds,

Amandeep Kaur

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response covers all three bullet points required by the prompt. The writer successfully corrects information regarding their town, Bathinda, specifically pointing out inaccuracies about the infrastructure and educational system. They also explain why correct information matters, noting that magazines are a primary source of knowledge for readers who blindly trust them. Furthermore, a clear suggestion is provided asking the magazine to print a retraction and verify facts before publication. The tone is appropriate for a formal letter to an editor, and the purpose is clear throughout. Although some ideas could be extended further, all parts of the task are addressed adequately, fulfilling the requirements for Band 6.0.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The letter maintains a coherent overall arrangement and follows a logical structure appropriate for correspondence, starting with an appropriate salutation and closing. Paragraphing is used to separate different points, such as the introduction, the corrections, the explanation of importance, and the suggestions. However, cohesion is sometimes mechanical and features some faulty referencing. For instance, transitional phrases like 'Firstly' and 'Additionally' are used, but transitions between sentences can be abrupt. Expressions like 'as your magazines published in all around the world' disrupt the flow, and referencing pronouns occasionally lacks clarity. Paragraphing could also be more strictly managed to group related ideas more effectively. Overall, this demonstrates the characteristics of Band 5.5.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully attempting less common items such as 'infrastructure', 'international magazine', and 'consideration'. However, there are noticeable spelling and word-choice errors that detract from precision, including 'backword' instead of 'backward', 'unappropriate' instead of 'inappropriate', 'articale' instead of 'article', 'allready' instead of 'already', 'requst' instead of 'request', and 'cosist' instead of 'consist'. Additionally, awkward collocations like 'magazines are main source of knowledge for magazine lover' appear. While these errors do not completely impede communication, they restrict the lexical score to Band 5.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating some variety in structure. However, grammatical accuracy is weak, with frequent errors in punctuation, articles, and verb forms. Examples include 'Dear sir or Madam' (capitalisation and comma errors), 'make some corrections in your magazine regarding a town information' (uncountable noun misuse), 'as your magazines published in all around the world' (missing auxiliary verb for passive voice), and 'if you could consider my suggestion, I want to requst you reprint another post' (missing infinitive marker 'to' before reprint). These frequent errors can cause some difficulty for the reader, aligning the performance with Band 5.0.

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

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