Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-10-30
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 5.5)
Dear Maha,
Hope you are doing well. i am very excited to know that you are going to camping holiday for the first time and i wish you all the best. You will enjoy it very much because its the first time you are taking break from work and going on camping to relax, the view and the mountains are so refreshing, and it will make you fascinated.
Other then that i wanted you to take extra good care as their are many wild animals in the forest side so its possible for you to cross path with them.
I also wanted to ask if i could come and join you in your camping trip.
Hope to see you soon.
Regards
mehr
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0
You address the main situation and give a reason Maha might enjoy camping, mentioning a break from work and the refreshing mountain scenery. You also raise a possible disadvantage—encountering wild animals—and ask to join her, so the key points are recognisable. However, the disadvantages are only briefly mentioned, and your request to go together does not clearly answer whether you would like to go this summer. The ideas are therefore limited and under-developed, and the letter does not fully cover the task. The response is also below the required 150 words. Develop each point with a specific example or practical detail, and state directly that you would or would not like to join her this summer.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0
The letter follows a generally sensible order: you begin with a greeting, explain why camping may appeal, mention a concern, and then ask to join the trip. This makes the overall message understandable. However, the response is very brief, and the ideas are compressed into a few blocks rather than developed in clearly organised paragraphs. Some linking is awkward or unclear, particularly “Other then that,” which does not accurately signal the relationship between the enjoyment and the disadvantage. Add a separate paragraph for the disadvantages and another for your answer about joining, using straightforward links such as “However” and “As for joining you.” This would make the progression clearer and cohesion less mechanical.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.5
You use enough vocabulary to communicate the basic ideas, including “refreshing,” “wild animals,” and “take extra good care.” There is also an attempt to express enthusiasm and describe the setting. However, some word choices and combinations are inaccurate or unnatural, such as “going to camping holiday,” “the forest side,” and “cross path with them.” “Fascinated” does not fit naturally in the sentence about how the scenery will affect Maha. These choices make the language less precise, although the main meaning remains understandable. Aim for natural collocations and check word forms: for example, say “go on a camping holiday,” “in the forest,” and “come across them,” and use “fascinating” to describe the scenery.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5
You communicate through a mixture of simple sentences and a longer sentence joined with “because,” “and,” and “so.” The basic message is generally clear, but some grammatical errors remain. For example, “i am” needs a capital letter, “you are going to camping holiday” has an incorrect verb pattern and is missing an article, and “its the first time” needs the possessive form “it’s.” The sentence beginning “You will enjoy it very much because…” also combines several ideas without clear punctuation, making it difficult to follow. Use a wider range of controlled sentence patterns, and check articles, verb forms, apostrophes, capitalisation, and sentence boundaries before finishing.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
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