Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-09-22

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 Sai,

Congratulations on your graduation. During our school days conversation you mentioned many times that you are interested in pursuing a career in accounts so I believe Strategic management in accounting will be the right option to start a career in accounts.Recently I completed SMA course from York university. In this particualr course you can learn intermediate level of Taxation, Law, Audit and in Accounts and the university will give an opportunity to pursue an indepth specialization of any of the subject after completion of the course that's the advantage with the course.

York university is the best university to pursue masters in Canada. Faculity is highly experienced in teaching. Many companies come for the campus placements. Moreover the eac

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The student attempts to address all parts of the prompt by mentioning the Strategic Management in Accounting course at York University, giving reasons for recommendation such as experienced faculty and campus placements, and starting to touch upon application advice. However, the response is cut off mid-sentence ('Moreover the eac') and significantly under-develops the final bullet point regarding how to apply. Furthermore, the length check confirms the response contains only 121 words, falling well short of the 150-word minimum requirement. This under-length impacts task fulfillment, as ideas cannot be fully expanded. Based on these limitations, the task achievement is marked at band 5.0.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The letter adopts an appropriate informal tone with the opening 'Dear Sai,' and attempts a logical progression from congratulating the friend to introducing the course and university. However, the overall arrangement is disrupted because the response ends abruptly in the middle of a sentence, meaning paragraphing and cohesion are severely compromised in the latter half. Cohesive devices are minimal, relying on simple connectors like 'Moreover'. Referencing is generally clear up to the point of termination, but the lack of completion prevents a cohesive structure from being fully established. This warrants a band 5.0 for coherence and cohesion.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The student demonstrates an adequate vocabulary for the task, successfully utilizing field-specific terms such as 'Strategic management', 'Taxation', 'Law', 'Audit', and 'campus placements'. There are minor spelling and word choice errors, such as 'particualr' instead of particular and 'Faculity' instead of faculty. More varied phrasing could be employed to discuss university advantages. Although communication is largely clear, the limited lexical range and spelling inaccuracies constrain the score. Therefore, a band 6.0 is appropriate for lexical resource.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The student produces a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as 'During our school days conversation you mentioned many times that you are interested in pursuing a career in accounts...' Grammatical control is moderate, but run-on sentences and punctuation lapses occur, such as missing commas before conjunctions and periods ending clauses. Noticeable errors include 'in accounts' instead of 'in accounting' and 'any of the subject' instead of 'any of the subjects'. Because errors are present but rarely impede overall understanding of the text produced so far, a band 6.0 is given.

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