Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.0 · 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 5.0)
Hii john, how are you ?? Hope u doing well. Last week i received your email regarding your sport career. I personally recommend cricket for u because it suits on your personality and you already have a solid body .one of my friend learning the skills from national cricket academy situated in jalandhar currently he has been selected in the state level .being of your friend he will enroll your in that academy they charge very less fee for the coaching.
If u convince we should be join together academy because coaching staff is very supportive and frindly i searched so many academies and did survey that one is best fit for out. I will waiting for your response Thank you
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0
The response addresses all three bullet points: recommending a sport, explaining how to learn it, and suggesting joining together. However, the response is significantly under the 150-word minimum requirement, which limits the development of ideas. The explanation of how to learn the sport is somewhat vague, and the overall tone is quite informal, which is appropriate for a letter to a friend, but the lack of length prevents a fully developed response. To improve, you should expand on the benefits of the sport and provide more detail regarding the logistics of joining the academy.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0
The letter lacks clear paragraphing, which makes it difficult to follow the progression of ideas. While there is a basic attempt at logical sequencing, the lack of cohesive devices (such as linking words or transition phrases) makes the writing feel disjointed. For example, the transition between recommending the sport and explaining the academy details is abrupt. Improving the use of paragraph breaks and adding cohesive devices like 'furthermore,' 'consequently,' or 'in addition' would significantly improve the flow and structure of your writing.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.0
The vocabulary is quite basic and repetitive. Phrases like 'solid body' and 'charge very less fee' are unnatural and indicate a limited range of collocations. There are also several spelling errors, such as 'frindly' and 'u' (used as a text-speak abbreviation). To reach a higher band, you should aim for more precise vocabulary related to sports and coaching, and avoid informal abbreviations that are not suitable for an IELTS task, even in an informal letter.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The response contains frequent grammatical errors, including issues with subject-verb agreement ('one of my friend learning'), incorrect verb tenses ('I will waiting'), and missing articles. The sentence structures are mostly simple, with limited attempts at complex sentences. Punctuation is also inconsistent, with missing capital letters at the start of sentences and improper use of question marks. Focusing on basic sentence construction, ensuring subject-verb agreement, and proofreading for punctuation errors will help improve your score in this area.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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