Letter recommending a restaurant to a colleague
This is a model answer written to show what a Band 7 response looks like against the marking criteria. It is a worked example, not a graded submission. To see your own band, paste your writing into the free checker.
The prompt
A colleague is planning a family celebration and has asked you to recommend a restaurant. Write a letter to your colleague. In your letter:
- recommend a restaurant you know well
- describe the food and atmosphere
- explain why it would suit the celebration
Band 7 model answer (156 words)
Dear Katie,
You asked me for a restaurant for your mum's sixtieth, and I know just the place: Olive and Thyme, the little Greek restaurant on Harbour Lane.
We have been going there for years and it has never let us down. The slow-cooked lamb falls off the bone, the mezze plates are made for sharing, and they do a lovely lemon cake they will happily bring out with candles. The room is warm and candlelit, and the music stays low enough that you can actually talk, even on a busy Saturday night.
For your celebration it works perfectly. There is a long table by the window that seats twelve, the staff are brilliant with grandparents and children alike, and it will not break the bank either. Ask for Maria when you book and mention the birthday.
Let me know how it goes, and save me a slice of that lemon cake!
All the best,
Rob
Why this reaches Band 7
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Task Achievement
The recommendation is named and located, the food and atmosphere paragraph is vivid and specific ("the slow-cooked lamb falls off the bone"), and the third bullet is answered with reasons matched to a family sixtieth: the long table, the staff, the price.
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Coherence and Cohesion
"For your celebration it works perfectly" signals the shift from describing the restaurant to matching it to the occasion, so each bullet is clearly dealt with in turn.
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Lexical Resource
Natural, appetising informal language: "never let us down", "made for sharing", "will not break the bank", all used precisely.
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Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Comfortable range with reduced relative clauses ("a lovely lemon cake they will happily bring out") and imperatives ("Ask for Maria"), with barely a slip.
The one fix to reach Band 7
Band 6 answers praise the restaurant in general terms ("the food is delicious and the staff are friendly") and ignore the occasion. The change that lifts this to Band 7 is the third bullet: connect specific features of the place to this particular celebration.
Now check your own answer.
Paste your own attempt at this prompt and Examinerly names the single criterion keeping you below your target band, and shows the sentence-level fix. We never inflate your band.
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