Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-08-11
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, I am writing in response to your last letter that I received, where you request to a recommendation of a sport that you could learn. You have been fit and athletic since our teenage days, as a result you will excel in a challenging sport like football.
First off, the sport is physically demanding and requires constant practice to excel at it. Additionally, world cup was recently hosted in our country as a result several, groups have organized Sunday leagues, where amateurs player join to compete. Many of my coworkers have joined a club named 'Silverstone Academy' where former football coaches and players help new learner with their skills and basic knowledge of the sport.
Furthermore, I have been planning to join the academy as I have been little rusty with my football skills, and I was looking to start playing again to maintain better fitness. If you would like I can help you learn some flair moves of football.
Can't wait to hear back from you! Let me know what you think.
Warm Regards,
Max Verstappen
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 7.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 7.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 6.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 6.0 |
| Overall | 6.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0
You have successfully addressed all three bullet points in the prompt. You recommended football, explained how to learn it via the 'Silverstone Academy', and invited your friend to join you. The tone is appropriate for an email to a friend, and the purpose of the letter is clear from the beginning. To reach a higher band, ensure that your ideas are slightly more developed; for instance, you could have elaborated more on the specific benefits of the academy or the nature of the 'flair moves' you mentioned. Overall, the task is fully covered.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0
The email is logically organized with clear paragraphing. Each paragraph focuses on a specific aspect of the task. You use cohesive devices such as 'First off', 'Additionally', and 'Furthermore' to guide the reader through your points. However, some transitions feel slightly mechanical, and there are minor issues with punctuation, such as the comma splice in the opening sentence ('I hope you are doing well, I am writing...'). Improving the variety of linking words and ensuring correct sentence boundary punctuation would enhance the flow.
Lexical Resource — Band 6.0
You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'physically demanding', 'amateurs', and 'maintain better fitness'. There are some minor inaccuracies, such as 'request to a recommendation' (should be 'request for a recommendation') and 'new learner' (should be 'new learners'). While your vocabulary is sufficient to convey your meaning clearly, incorporating more precise collocations or idiomatic expressions suitable for an informal email would help you achieve a higher score.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0
You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While your meaning is always clear, there are several grammatical errors. For example, 'world cup was recently hosted' requires an article ('the'), and 'as a result several, groups' contains an unnecessary comma. Additionally, 'you request to a recommendation' is grammatically incorrect. You have a good grasp of basic structures, but more attention to articles, pluralization, and sentence-level punctuation is needed to reduce the frequency of these errors.
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.