Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-11-07

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

Your English-speaking friend who lives in your town has asked for your advice about learning a new sport. Write an email to your friend. In your email:

• recommend a new sport that would be suitable for your friend to learn
• explain how your friend could learn this sport
• suggest that you both learn this sport together

You do NOT need to write any addresses.

Begin your letter as follows:

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

 

Student answer (Band 6.5)

Dear Kiran,

I hope you're doing well. I'm writing a letter to give you advice on learning a sport.

I would recommend that you join a Handball team, as you will have to learn new things about it, and it is good for maintaining your health as well as you will find it more interesting when you gain deeper knowledge about it.

To get more knowledge about it, you can join our city's team and learn all the rules and regulations from the coach. As you know, he is very polite and keen to teach new players; you will find his way of teaching effective, and I'm pretty sure you will catch all things in a jiffy.

I'm suggesting that you join the handball team, as I am going to plan that as well, because it will be beneficial not only for our future but also for our health. I'm also going to be a part of this team in a few days. I hope you will think about it and join this team with me.

Kind regards,

Jass

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.0

You address all three points clearly: you recommend handball, explain that your friend can learn through the city team and its coach, and invite your friend to join you. The advice is relevant and your friendly purpose is clear throughout. You also support the recommendation with benefits such as health and learning new skills. To make the ideas more fully developed, explain why handball specifically suits Kiran—for example, whether it matches their interests or fitness level—and add practical details about how to join or when training takes place. The claim that it will benefit “our future” is less clear than the health benefit, so clarify what you mean or replace it with a more specific reason.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The email follows a sensible progression from greeting and recommendation to learning arrangements and a joint invitation, and the closing is appropriate. Paragraphing helps distinguish these stages. You use linking expressions such as “as,” “as well as,” and “not only…but also,” showing some range. However, several sentences repeat the same idea of joining the team, and the repeated references to “it” and “this team” can make the flow feel mechanical. The opening also says “I'm writing a letter,” which is unnecessary in an email to a friend. For a more polished progression, give each paragraph one clear purpose and use more precise references, such as “the club” or “weekly training.”

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

Your vocabulary is adequate for giving friendly advice, and phrases such as “maintaining your health,” “rules and regulations,” and “keen to teach” communicate relevant ideas. You also attempt more expressive language with “catch all things in a jiffy,” although this is informal and not quite natural in this context. Some wording is vague or repetitive, particularly “learn new things,” “more knowledge,” and “all things.” More precise sport-related vocabulary would make the advice clearer and show greater flexibility. Choose collocations that sound natural in an email, and avoid repeating “join the team” when you can refer to training, the club, or practice sessions.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.5

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, including a relative clause in “the coach…who is very polite” and the paired structure “not only…but also.” Most of the message remains easy to understand. Some sentence construction and punctuation issues remain, however. In “it is good for maintaining your health as well as you will find it more interesting,” the two ideas are not joined in a grammatically parallel way; use “and you may also find it more interesting.” The phrase “I'm going to plan that as well” is also unclear in its structure and meaning. Break up the longer sentences and check that clauses are connected correctly. This would improve accuracy while preserving your range.

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

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