Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-08-25

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

A friend of yours is thinking of going on a camping holiday for the first time this summer. He/She has asked for your advice. Write a letter to your friend. In your letter

• explain why you think your friend would enjoy a camping holiday
• describe some possible disadvantages
• say whether you would like to go camping with your friend this summer

You do NOT need to write any addresses.

Begin your letter as follows:

Dear ................. ,

Student answer (Band 6.5)

Dear John,

Hope you are doing well. I am writing this letter to give you advice regarding the camping holiday.

Firstly, it would be a great and awesome experience. Most of the camping destinations are out of network coverage and it will provide an opportunity to spend a plenty of time with your friends or loved ones. Secondly, it will help you to learn the survival skills in the harsh situations. For instance, setting up a tent, preparing quick and convenient meals and setting up some recreational activities for fun and excitement.

There might some challenging situations as well such as danger of local and wild animals. To illustrate, one needs to be watchful of bears and foxes, if he/she is camping in the Banff, Alberta. These grizzly bears are life threatening. Moreover, there might be sudden weather changes such as hail or rainfall, so one need to prepared in advance and carry the raincoats and umbrella.

I wish to join you this camping trip but I have to prepare for my upcoming university entrance exams. My exams are in the month of September, just one week after the trip and I would not get enough time for preparation.

Hope to meet you soon and feel free to contact me if you needed any guidance. Enjoy your holiday!

Best Wishes,

Sam

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

You have addressed all three bullet points in the prompt effectively. You provided clear reasons why your friend would enjoy camping, identified specific disadvantages like wildlife and weather, and clearly explained why you cannot join the trip. The tone is appropriate for a letter to a friend, and the purpose of the letter is clear from the beginning. To reach a higher band, you could expand slightly more on the personal connection or provide more vivid descriptions of the camping experience to fully develop your ideas, but overall, the task is well-covered.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The letter is logically organized with clear paragraphing. You use transition signals such as 'Firstly', 'Secondly', 'To illustrate', and 'Moreover' to guide the reader through your points. The progression of ideas is smooth, moving from the benefits to the drawbacks and finally to your personal availability. The use of referencing is generally clear, though some cohesive devices are slightly mechanical. Overall, the structure is sound and supports the flow of information effectively throughout the letter.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task. Phrases like 'network coverage', 'survival skills', and 'life threatening' are used correctly and fit the context well. However, there are some minor inaccuracies in word choice, such as 'spend a plenty of time' (should be 'spend plenty of time') and 'setting up some recreational activities' (where 'planning' or 'organizing' might be more natural). The vocabulary is sufficient to convey your meaning clearly, but a wider variety of less common collocations would help elevate the score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is always clear, there are several grammatical slips, such as 'There might some challenging situations' (missing 'be'), 'one need to prepared' (should be 'needs to be prepared'), and 'if you needed any guidance' (should be 'if you need'). These errors do not impede communication, but they occur frequently enough to prevent a higher score. Focusing on subject-verb agreement and the correct use of modal verbs will help improve your accuracy.

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

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