Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-09-10

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 6.5)

Dear Harry,

I hope you are doing well. Congratulations for your bachelor's degree in Computer Science. I heard that you wanna move to Canada for higher studies and that too in same course as mine, Information Technology Solutions at Humber college, Toronto.

To begin with, the course is quite flexible with about 70% of elective subjects to choose from throughout the two years of course. It provides different streams for multiple career opportunities. Althought, it is not a known university, the college is known for the value of education and technological innovations carried out within Canada, so your choice is definitely better. For application, I recommend applying using official website and check for all the requirement and course contents before applying if there are any changes from last year.

Let me know your thoughts and best of luck on a new journey. Hope to meet you soon.

Kind regards,

John

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

You have addressed all three bullet points of the task: describing the course, recommending the university, and providing application advice. The tone is appropriate for a letter to a friend. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited. For instance, while you mention the course is flexible, you could have provided a specific example of an elective subject to make the advice more personal and helpful. Similarly, the advice on the application process is quite generic. To reach a higher band, ensure that your ideas are extended with more specific details or personal anecdotes that demonstrate a deeper engagement with the prompt.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The letter follows a logical progression, moving from the greeting to the course details, then to the recommendation and application advice. Paragraphing is used correctly to separate these distinct ideas. You use some cohesive devices such as 'To begin with' and 'For application', which help guide the reader. However, the transition between the course description and the recommendation is slightly abrupt. The use of 'Althought' (a spelling error) as a cohesive connector is also a bit mechanical. Improving the variety of linking words and ensuring smoother transitions between sentences would enhance the flow of your writing.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'elective subjects', 'technological innovations', and 'higher studies'. There are some minor errors in word choice and spelling, such as 'wanna' (which is too informal even for a letter to a friend in an IELTS context) and 'Althought'. Additionally, the phrase 'that too in same course' is slightly awkward and unidiomatic. To improve, focus on using more precise collocations and avoiding informal contractions or slang. Expanding your vocabulary to include more descriptive adjectives would also help make your writing more engaging.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as 'I heard that you wanna move...' and 'The course is quite flexible with about 70% of elective subjects to choose from'. While the meaning is generally clear, there are several grammatical slips, such as 'Congratulations for your bachelor's degree' (should be 'on'), 'in same course' (missing article 'the'), and 'check for all the requirement' (should be plural 'requirements'). These errors do not impede communication, but they do indicate a need for more careful proofreading, particularly regarding articles and preposition usage.

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

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