Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-11-10

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

You recently did a short cookery course. The cookery school has asked for your feedback on this course. Write a letter to the course director at the cookery school. In your letter

• describe what you enjoyed about the course
• say how much cooking you've done since the course
• suggest another cookery course you’d like the school to offer

You do NOT need to write any addresses.

Begin your letter as follows:

Dear Sir or Madam,

Student answer (Band 5.0)

Dear Sir or Madam,

I hope you are doing well. I was delighted with my skills that I learned from your part-time cooking course. I had an amazing experience throughout this course as I got an opportunity to bake variety of dishes.

To begin with, I would like to mention that I cooked over 10 famous recipes of around the world during this course. However, it was an honour for me to cook with famous chef Sanjeev Kapoor. Well, the best part in learning this course was the time when he explained every details before cooking such as how much quantity this dish will need to prepare, what ingredients we will use, how much nutrition and vitamins it has along with which country's famous dish it is, which made us feel more curious to attend each class. Because of learning how to cook, it helped me to cook for myself when no one was there to feed me.

Furthermore, I would like to request to organize more similar courses in our school which will help to continue in exploring cooking important. This will also help more students to attend cooking course. I would appreciate it if applicable.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Yours faithfully,

Yesha

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.0

You give relevant feedback about enjoying the course, especially learning recipes from different countries and cooking with Sanjeev Kapoor. However, the task is only minimally addressed overall because two required points are missing: you do not say how much cooking you have done since the course, and you do not identify a specific type of course you would like the school to offer. The request for “more similar courses” is too general to fulfil the final point, and the statement about cooking for yourself does not clarify when or how often you have cooked since completing the course. To improve, answer each bullet directly and add a concrete example, such as describing meals you have prepared recently and naming a course in a particular cuisine or technique.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The letter has a recognisable opening, body paragraphs and a polite closing, and phrases such as “To begin with” and “Furthermore” help signal the sequence of ideas. The course experience is mostly grouped together, so the reader can follow the main topic. However, the progression is weakened because the response moves from course details to a general statement about cooking for yourself without clearly connecting this to cooking since the course. The final paragraph also combines a request for more courses with an unclear explanation of their benefit. Organise the body around the three requested points, using a separate paragraph for each, and make references and links between ideas more direct.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use a reasonable range of topic-related vocabulary, including “recipes,” “ingredients,” “nutrition,” and “curious,” which makes the course description understandable. There are also attempts at more formal expressions, such as “I would like to request” and “I would appreciate it.” However, several word choices and collocations are awkward or imprecise, including “delighted with my skills that I learned,” “bake variety of dishes,” and “cooking important.” These reduce naturalness, even though the general meaning is usually clear. Aim for more accurate combinations, such as “pleased with the skills I learned,” “prepare a variety of dishes,” and “continue developing their cooking skills.” Check that each phrase expresses the intended meaning precisely.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt a mix of sentence forms, including a longer sentence explaining what the chef taught and a conditional structure in “when no one was there to feed me.” The main message remains understandable, and some basic sentence patterns are controlled. However, errors appear in both simple and complex constructions: “I was delighted with my skills that I learned” has an unclear clause relationship, while “every details” has incorrect number agreement. The long sentence beginning “Well, the best part…” is difficult to manage and contains several clauses that would be clearer as shorter sentences. There are also problems with articles and sentence construction in “bake variety of dishes” and “I would like to request to organize.” Use shorter, complete sentences and check agreement, articles and verb patterns.

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

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