Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-10-20

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,

I am writing a letter to complain you about the news which you posted a day before, it can mislead the people.

Firstlty, Yesterday, When I wake up, I saw the news about Diwali festival which will suppose to be held on December 2nd. However, you published that the festival would held on December 22nd. It might be happen by mistake.

The main reason why I am worried about that because we spent a lot of mony to make the festival memorable.In my town, people are so reliable on news that they will think that they just postpone the festival.As a result, everything will be useless if they will unable to attend the festival.

I would like to request you to publish the same news on the first page and highlight it ,so that people could aware from the news that would be greatly appreciated.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely,

Tom

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You address the main parts of the task: you identify the incorrect date, explain the possible consequences for residents, and ask the magazine to publish a correction prominently. The contrast between the festival being held on December 2nd and the article giving December 22nd is clear. Your explanation that people may believe the festival has been postponed and miss it is relevant, but the importance of accurate information could be developed further—for example, by explaining the effect on visitors or the town’s preparations. The requested action is also somewhat limited: asking for a front-page notice is useful, but you could explicitly request a correction or apology and specify that it should appear in the magazine’s next issue. The purpose is clear overall, though some points are less fully developed than others.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The letter has a recognisable progression: you introduce the complaint, correct the date, explain the consequences, and make a request before closing. Paragraphing helps separate these stages, and phrases such as “However” and “As a result” show the intended relationships between ideas. Some connections are less smooth or precise, however. “Firstlty” is an inaccurate form, and the opening sentence combines the complaint and its consequence in a way that is difficult to follow. The explanation paragraph also moves from the town’s spending to residents’ reliance on news without clearly linking those points. Use clearer topic sentences and connect each reason directly to the inaccurate date; this would make the progression more consistently logical and less dependent on basic linking phrases.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use enough topic-related vocabulary to communicate the situation, including “festival,” “mislead,” “postpone,” and “attend.” There are also attempts at more formal language, such as “I would like to request” and “I look forward to hearing from you.” However, the range is limited, and several noticeable spelling, word-form, or collocation errors reduce precision: “Firstlty,” “mony,” “reliable on news,” and “aware from the news.” “Complain you about the news” is also not a natural expression in this context. These choices do not prevent the reader from understanding the main message, but they make the letter sound less controlled. Build a bank of accurate formal complaint phrases and check spelling and common word partnerships before submitting.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentences, including a conditional consequence in “if they will unable to attend the festival” and a relative clause in “the news that would be greatly appreciated.” The overall meaning remains understandable, but some sentence structures and verb forms are inaccurate. For example, “the festival would held” needs a passive form, while “When I wake up, I saw” shifts inconsistently between present and past. The opening sentence also lacks a clear grammatical connection between “complain” and “you.” In “because we spent … memorable.In my town,” punctuation and sentence boundaries need attention. Practise accurate past-tense narration, passive constructions, and conditional forms, then proofread for missing words and spaces after full stops.

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