Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-08-05
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 5.0)
Dear Sara,
I hope you are doing well. I am writing this letter to provide you a suggestion about learning a new sport called pickle ball. I know you have a busy lifestyle and due to which you are not able to focus on your fitness or make some time to go to gym.
I believe playing pickle ball will be beneficial for you, as it will require you to move your body. It will replace working out on a daily basis and hopefully a fun enjoyment for you to look forward to after a stressful day at work. You can register yourself to a recreational centre near your house
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 4.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 4.0
The response fails to address all parts of the task. While you recommend a sport and mention where to learn it, you completely omit the final requirement to suggest learning it together. Furthermore, the response is significantly under the 150-word minimum requirement, which severely limits the development of your ideas. To improve, ensure you cover all three bullet points in the prompt and expand on your points with more detail and examples to meet the length requirement. The current brevity makes the response feel incomplete and underdeveloped.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0
The response is very short, making it difficult to assess the full range of your organizational skills. There is a basic attempt at paragraphing, but the flow is interrupted by the abrupt ending. You use some cohesive devices like 'as' and 'because', but the overall structure lacks the logical progression expected in a formal or semi-formal email. To improve, use a wider variety of linking words and ensure your ideas are connected smoothly across paragraphs. The lack of a closing or sign-off also impacts the overall coherence of the letter format.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.0
Your vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, but it remains quite basic. Phrases like 'busy lifestyle' and 'stressful day' are appropriate, but there is little attempt to use more sophisticated or varied language. You also have some minor collocation issues, such as 'provide you a suggestion' (should be 'provide you with a suggestion') and 'go to gym' (should be 'go to the gym'). To reach a higher band, try to incorporate more precise vocabulary and idiomatic expressions that fit the context of a friendly email.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The response contains a mix of simple and some complex sentence structures. However, there are several grammatical errors that affect the clarity of your writing. For example, 'due to which you are not able' is awkward phrasing, and 'hopefully a fun enjoyment' is grammatically incorrect. There are also missing articles, such as 'to gym' instead of 'to the gym'. While the meaning is generally clear, the frequency of these errors suggests a need for more careful proofreading and a better grasp of sentence construction and article usage.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.