Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-07-24

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 John,

I hope you are doing well. It is great to hear that you want to take up a new sport.

I highly recommend trying tennis. Our town has fantastic public courts. It is excellent for fitness and very easy to get into.

You can learn the basics easily. The local community center offers affordable beginner classes every evening. They provide all the equipment, and the Instructors are highly experienced.

Actually, I have been wanting to learn tennis too. Why don't we sign up for the weekend sessions together? It would be a lot of fun, and we can keep each other motivated.

Let me know if you are interested

Best wishes,

Amneet

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response addresses all three bullet points: recommending tennis, explaining how to learn it, and suggesting learning together. However, the response is significantly under the 150-word minimum requirement, which negatively impacts the development of ideas. While the tone is appropriate for an email to a friend, the brevity means the ideas are not fully extended or supported as required for higher bands. To improve, you should expand on your suggestions, perhaps by describing the benefits of the community center classes in more detail or explaining why you personally want to learn tennis, to ensure you meet the length requirement and provide a more comprehensive response.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The email is logically organized, with each paragraph focusing on one of the required points. The progression of ideas is clear, moving from the recommendation to the practical details and finally the invitation. Cohesive devices such as 'Actually' and 'It would be' are used appropriately to link sentences. However, because the text is quite short, the range of cohesive devices is somewhat limited. The paragraphing is clear and appropriate for an informal email. To reach a higher band, ensure that your ideas are more fully developed so that the flow between sentences feels more substantial and less abrupt.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.5

The vocabulary used is natural and appropriate for an informal email to a friend. Phrases like 'take up a new sport', 'get into', and 'keep each other motivated' are used correctly and demonstrate a good grasp of common collocations. While the range is adequate for this task, it lacks the 'less common' or more sophisticated vocabulary that would be expected for a higher band score. To improve, try to incorporate more varied descriptive language or idiomatic expressions that fit the context of a friendly recommendation.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 7.0

The grammar is generally accurate, with no significant errors that impede communication. You have used a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as 'It is great to hear that you want to take up a new sport' and 'It would be a lot of fun, and we can keep each other motivated.' Punctuation is used correctly throughout. To achieve a higher band, you should aim to demonstrate a wider range of complex grammatical structures, such as conditional sentences or a greater variety of subordinate clauses, while maintaining this level of accuracy.

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.