Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-08-15

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 Mahesh,

I am writing this email as a follow up of your last email in which you have requested me to guide you to learn a new sport. Since you are fit and quick on field, I want to suggest you that you should learn cricket.

The reason behind I recommended the game of cricket to you is both, its increasing popularity in the world and your athletic body. Firstly, you can start watching the game of cricket online and understand properly about its formats, rules and regulations. Once you get familiarized with basics of this game, you and I can start practicing in my backyard every weekend.

Moreover, I know a group of our community play a cricket match on every Sunday and they also organize a practice session and a training camp on every Saturday evening. I was thinking, you and I should join this group to learn more about this game.

Please let me know if you need more information on it.

Best Regards,

Harsh Patel

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

You have successfully addressed all three bullet points in the prompt. You recommended cricket, explained how to learn it through online resources and practice, and suggested learning it together. The tone is appropriate for an email to a friend, and the purpose is clear throughout. To reach a higher band, you could provide more specific detail on the learning process, such as mentioning specific drills or equipment needed, which would further develop your ideas. Overall, the response is well-focused and meets all requirements of the task.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The email is logically organized with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a closing. You use basic cohesive devices such as 'Firstly', 'Moreover', and 'Once you get familiarized' to link your ideas. The paragraphing is appropriate for the task. To improve, you could use a wider variety of linking words and ensure that the transition between sentences is smoother. For example, the sentence 'The reason behind I recommended...' is slightly clunky; using a more natural transition would enhance the flow of your argument.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for this task, using terms like 'athletic', 'familiarized', and 'regulations'. However, there are some minor inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'quick on field' (should be 'quick on the field') and 'The reason behind I recommended' (should be 'The reason why I recommended'). While these errors do not impede communication, they indicate a need for more precise control over collocations and prepositional usage to reach a higher band.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are some grammatical errors, such as 'follow up of your last email' (should be 'follow-up to your last email') and 'a group of our community play' (should be 'a group in our community plays'). Additionally, there are minor issues with article usage, such as 'learn cricket' (which is fine) versus 'the game of cricket' (which is sometimes used redundantly). Despite these errors, your meaning is always clear, and the grammar does not hinder the reader's understanding.

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

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