Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-08-18
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 5.5)
Dear Eman,
I hope your well,
As we are friends since childhood. We had a great time together in this town. Although you are good at English speaking and you wanted to learn a new sports.
As I recommend you that you would be learn football sport dust to the fact that you are brilliant in sports.
Since we played football many times in our school. I think you have to learn more about football.
As our head couch guides us many sports. You will go to him and learn this from him. Well after your conceren I think we should learn this sports together. After evening our couch will be free and we have enough time to manage this.
We meet him in our nearest park. He guide us from their exeperince. I know we enjoyed each other company very well. So we could enhance our sports skills together in a very good way.
I hope you understand what I said. So we will meet coming Sunday at 5:00 p.m. in the park.
Take care of yourself,
Goodbye,
Yours sincerely,
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The response addresses all three bullet points: recommending a sport (football), explaining how to learn it (via a coach), and suggesting learning together. However, the development of these ideas is somewhat limited. The explanation of how to learn the sport is slightly repetitive and lacks clarity regarding the process. While the tone is appropriate for a letter to a friend, the content is occasionally vague, such as the mention of a 'head couch' (coach) without specific details. To reach a higher band, you should expand on the 'how' and 'why' with more descriptive language and clearer logical steps.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The letter is generally coherent, and the progression of ideas is logical. You use basic cohesive devices like 'As', 'Since', and 'So' to link sentences. However, the paragraphing is insufficient; the entire body of the email is presented as a single block of text, which makes it harder to follow. Additionally, some transitions feel mechanical or forced, such as starting multiple sentences with 'As'. To improve, focus on using a wider variety of linking words and ensure that each paragraph focuses on a single, distinct idea to improve the overall structure.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The vocabulary is adequate for the task but lacks variety and precision. You rely on simple, repetitive words like 'learn', 'sports', and 'good'. There are also some noticeable errors in word choice and spelling, such as 'couch' instead of 'coach', 'conceren' instead of 'concern', and 'exeperince' instead of 'experience'. These errors do not completely impede communication, but they do restrict the range of your expression. To achieve a higher score, try to incorporate more specific vocabulary related to sports and avoid repeating the same basic verbs.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The response contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors that affect the flow. Examples include 'I hope your well' (you're), 'you would be learn' (you should learn), and 'He guide us from their exeperince' (He will guide us from his experience). These errors are persistent throughout the text. While the meaning is generally clear, the frequency of these mistakes prevents the writing from reaching a higher band. Focus on subject-verb agreement, correct verb forms, and basic punctuation to improve your accuracy.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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