Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-10-07

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 5.5)

Dear Sir or Madam,

I am writing to give feedback on the cookery course that I recently attended. It was really worth to attended it.

I really enjoyed the course. What I enjoyed most was that the excellent services. The staff were very helpful, friendly and honest which made our occasion even more enjoyable. Apart from this, the instructiors explaied all the topic in very simple and interesting way which has helped me imroved my knowledge and other skills.

The cookery show was really useful for me because now I can able to cook almost every recipes. I practiced and try new dishes every day at home after finishing my classes. My family really appreciate it. It helps me develop my confidence and makes me feel independent.

I would like to join the same course in the future. I would be grateful if you let me know about another cookery course if the school offer me in the future.

Yours faithfully,

Khushbu Patel

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You address the main points by describing the helpful staff and clear instruction, explaining that you cook new dishes at home, and asking about future courses. However, the request for another course is not specific: “I would like to join the same course” does not identify a different subject you would like the school to offer, and the final sentence is unclear about what information you want. Some ideas are also under-developed; for example, you could name a dish you have made or explain what kind of course would interest you. Make the purpose of the letter and your suggestions more precise to address every part fully.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The letter has a clear overall arrangement: an opening purpose, separate paragraphs about the course and your cooking afterwards, and a closing request. This makes the main stages easy to follow. You also use basic links such as “Apart from this” and “because.” However, some connections are mechanical or unclear. “The cookery show” seems to refer to the course, while “It helps me develop my confidence” has an uncertain reference. The final paragraph combines wanting to repeat the same course with asking about another one, so the progression is confusing. Use clearer references and organise the final request around one specific new course.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

Your vocabulary is sufficient to communicate the general experience, with relevant terms such as “helpful,” “friendly,” “dishes,” and “confidence.” You also attempt more descriptive language, including “independent” and “interesting.” However, noticeable word-choice, collocation, and spelling errors reduce precision: “excellent services” is unnatural in this context, “cookery show” does not accurately describe a course, and “honest” may not express the quality you intend. There are also misspellings such as “instructiors,” “explai ed,” and “imroved.” Choose more precise course-related expressions and proofread spelling; for example, describe the instructors’ explanations as “clear and engaging.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You use both simple sentences and some attempts at longer structures, such as “The staff were very helpful, friendly and honest which made our occasion even more enjoyable.” The overall meaning is generally understandable, but errors in verb forms, sentence construction, agreement, and articles are noticeable. For example, “It was really worth to attended it” needs a different verb pattern, and “What I enjoyed most was that the excellent services” is not a complete grammatical construction. “I can able to cook” also combines incompatible forms, while “every recipes” has a number-agreement error. Practise accurate verb patterns and build complete clauses; careful editing of these recurring errors would make your message clearer.

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

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