Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-09-06

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

A friend of yours is thinking about applying for the same course that you did at university. He/She has asked for your advice about studying this subject. Write a letter to your friend. In your letter

• give details of the course you took at the university
• explain why you recommend the university
• give some advice about how to apply

You do NOT need to write any addresses.

Begin your letter as follows:

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

Student answer (Band 5.5)

Dear ahmed,

I hope you doing very well

I would like to inform you about the trading subject that I took at the university.

firstly , I want to talk about the cource which is made by professional professor , he is named Mr jonathan , he is very fun and smart person , you gonna like him I promise and for the lesson are very useful and gonna help you about your trading positions . you will achieve your goal with this cource like me .

I recommended you this univesity cause is very popular in this stuff and it is near to your neighborhood

you can apply on their internet site in the next month i think it,s new section gonna begging

the cource cost 200 dollars and you can purchase online , you can call me if you need anything or if you stuck on how to apply

I hope that give you the necessary informations and hope you succed on it.

Best regards,

Adem

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

You have addressed all three bullet points required by the task: describing the course, explaining why you recommend the university, and providing application advice. However, the development of these points is quite limited. For example, the description of the course is vague, focusing more on the professor's personality than the actual content or curriculum. To improve, you should provide more specific details about what is studied. The tone is appropriately informal for a letter to a friend, but the lack of depth in your explanations prevents this from reaching a higher band score.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The letter is organised into short paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the structure. However, the use of cohesive devices is very basic and sometimes repetitive. Phrases like 'firstly' are used, but there is a lack of sophisticated linking words to connect ideas within sentences. The referencing is occasionally unclear, such as in the sentence 'I recommended you this univesity cause is very popular in this stuff', where the connection between the university and the 'stuff' (subject) is imprecise. Improving the flow between sentences would significantly enhance the coherence of your writing.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

Your vocabulary is generally adequate for a simple letter but lacks the range and precision required for higher bands. You rely on very basic descriptors like 'fun', 'smart', and 'useful'. There are also issues with word choice and collocation, such as 'trading subject' instead of 'trading course' or 'trading module', and 'in this stuff' which is too informal and vague. Spelling errors, such as 'cource' (course), 'univesity' (university), and 'begging' (beginning), occur frequently enough to be noticeable. To improve, focus on learning topic-specific vocabulary and proofreading for common spelling mistakes.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

There are frequent grammatical errors throughout the text that occasionally impede the reader's understanding. Examples include 'I hope you doing very well' (missing auxiliary verb), 'the lesson are very useful' (subject-verb agreement), and 'it,s new section gonna begging' (incorrect punctuation and informal/incorrect verb usage). You rely almost exclusively on simple sentence structures. To achieve a higher score, you need to demonstrate control over more complex sentence forms, such as using relative clauses or conditional structures, and pay closer attention to basic subject-verb agreement and punctuation rules.

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

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