Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-09-19

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 to inform you that in your magazine named "The history of India" has published some incorrect information. Actually, last week, when I travelled from Mumbai to Canada for business purpose, I read one article, which is related to history of my town. At that time, I found some information related to one historical park in my town was not accurate. The address of this place was wrong . Actually the address of this park was 11254 Nehru colony . However, the address for this park was written 11154 Nehru colony in the article instead of right address. Thus, I would like to suggest to publish the correct information

The most prominent factor why I request to you that is inconvience for tourists. As most of our country's economy depends on tourism. During traveling, if any tourist read this information and go there to see it in the light of popularity of this place, he will go incorrect place which is not only create problem for tourist, it also generate a negative image of our country.

I hope you will take prompt action regarding this matter.

Thank you.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response covers all three bullet points required by the prompt. You successfully corrected the information by providing the exact wrong address and the correct one ("The address of this park was 11254 Nehru colony ... written 11154 Nehru colony"). You also explained the importance of accuracy by highlighting the impact on tourism and the economy, and you suggested that the magazine publish the correct information. The purpose of the letter is clear, and the tone is appropriate for a formal complaint to an editor. However, some parts are slightly repetitive and lack deeper development, placing this response solidly in the Band 6 territory.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The letter follows a logical overall structure, beginning with an opening salutation, followed by the correction of facts, the explanation of consequences, and a concluding remark. Paragraphing is used to separate the main points. However, cohesion within sentences is sometimes faulty or mechanical. For example, transition phrases like "Actually... Actually... However... Thus..." are overused and repetitive, making the flow somewhat choppy. Referencing is occasionally unclear, such as "why I request to you that is inconvience for tourists." While the progression of ideas is generally understandable, the cohesive devices require more variety and precision.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, allowing you to communicate your message effectively. You attempted some less common vocabulary items such as "prominent factor", "economy depends on tourism", and "prompt action". However, there are noticeable word choice and collocation errors, such as saying the magazine "has published" instead of referring to the article itself, using "inconvience" (spelling error) instead of inconvenience, and writing "go incorrect place" instead of "go to the incorrect place". These errors do not completely impede communication, but they restrict the lexical score to a Band 6.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

You attempted a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating some control over grammar. However, there are frequent grammatical errors throughout the text. Examples include "in your magazine named "The history of India" has published" (subject-verb structure error), "which is related to history" (missing article), "which is not only create problem" (tense/verb form error), and "it also generate" (missing auxiliary or modal verb). Punctuation is also inconsistent in places, with missing commas after introductory phrases. Because errors occur frequently and cause some difficulty, the performance aligns with Band 5.0.

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

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