Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-10-27

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 Vishvam,

I am writting to you about the course that I did at the university, and would like to give you some advice about studying this subject. As you are thinking about applying this this course.

Firstly, I would like to give you some details related to the course that I took at the unversity. Adding to this, the course is about Taxs and its fundamentals where you will get to know the basic knowledge of taxs. For instances, the course includes what is Tax?, what are the types of taxs?, and how it works?.

Futhermore, I am writting to you about the university that how this particularly suitable for you. Additionally, this university which I chose is very good in this type of courses because this is an accounting university and the teachers here are very professional and experienced in the field of taxation.

Lastly, I would like to give some advice over how to apply for this course. Moreover, you can find the website of the university on the internet and just go on their site to apply for the subject in their application page.

I would appreciate it if you could follow these steps which I mentioned to you. Apart form this, you can also contact through university's email.

Thank you for your time and consideration. I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours Faithfully,

Rushit Dave

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You address all three requested points: you describe the taxation course, recommend the university because it specialises in accounting and has experienced teachers, and explain that applications can be made through its website. The advice is relevant and the reader can understand your recommendation. However, some parts are less fully developed than others. The course description lists basic topics, but gives little information about its structure, duration, or what studying it is like. The application guidance is also quite general; you could mention checking entry requirements, preparing documents, or contacting admissions. These additions would make the advice more useful and fully developed.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The letter has a clear overall arrangement, with separate paragraphs for course details, the university, and application advice, followed by a closing. This makes the main points easy to locate. However, progression within paragraphs is sometimes mechanical: “Firstly,” “Furthermore,” “Lastly,” and “Moreover” are used as signposts even when the relationship between ideas is not clear. For example, “Moreover” introduces the suggestion to contact the university, which could be linked more naturally to the application advice. Some references are also unclear, as in “this university that how this particularly suitable for you.” Use simpler links and make each sentence’s subject explicit to improve cohesion.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use enough topic-related vocabulary to communicate the main ideas, including “fundamentals,” “types of tax,” “accounting,” and “taxation.” The letter also uses an appropriate friendly purpose and closing. However, the range is limited and several word-choice, spelling, and collocation errors are noticeable, such as “course that I did,” “basic knowledge of taxs,” and “advice over how to apply.” Repeated use of “course,” “university,” and “tax” also makes the wording less flexible. Aim for more natural phrases and check spelling carefully; these changes would make the message clearer and more polished while retaining its friendly tone.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more extended sentence forms, and the overall meaning is generally understandable. Some grammatical errors remain, particularly in sentence construction and question forms. “As you are thinking about applying this this course” is an incomplete sentence, while “what is Tax?, what are the types of taxs?, and how it works?” does not maintain a consistent indirect-question structure. There are also errors in patterns such as “I am writing to you about the university that how this particularly suitable for you.” Try combining ideas in complete sentences and use indirect questions consistently, for example, “The course covers what tax is and how it works.” Proofreading for repeated words and punctuation would also help.

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