Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-08-21

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 6.0)

Dear John,

I hope you'r going great. It has been long time we catch with each other. I got to know that you want my advise on learning a new sport and I'm writing in response of this advice.

John, I think you should learn about swimming because you are working in water supply plant . this would be really beneficial for you. Once , you told me that you have water phobia

and learning this sport activity is important for you.

You know there are number of swimming courts in our city and you know choose which best suits you. Why dn't you join the new swimming school near your house which is recently build.

I also, wanted to learn swimming in childhood , but because of finance I never went to swimming classes. I have a plan to learn this sport together , It will be great fun. Also, we will have enough time to learn and spent time with each other.

Excited to see you soon!

With love,

Aman

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The response successfully covers all three bullet points: recommending swimming, explaining how to learn it, and suggesting a joint activity. The tone is appropriate for an email to a friend. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited. For instance, the explanation of how to learn the sport is brief, simply suggesting a local school. The mention of 'water phobia' is a bit confusing in the context of recommending swimming, which could have been clarified further to show better task development. Overall, the response is relevant and addresses the prompt requirements clearly.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The email is organized into logical paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the progression of ideas. However, the use of cohesive devices is somewhat mechanical and occasionally inaccurate, such as the transition 'Also, we will have enough time'. Some sentences feel disjointed, particularly in the second paragraph where the connection between the water supply plant and the phobia is not clearly linked. While the overall structure is coherent, the flow between sentences could be improved with more varied and natural linking words to achieve a higher band score.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The vocabulary is adequate for the task, allowing the message to be conveyed clearly. There are some instances of awkward phrasing, such as 'swimming courts' (instead of 'pools') and 'finance' (instead of 'financial reasons'). The student attempts to use some descriptive language, but the range is limited and there are noticeable errors in word choice that occasionally distract the reader. To improve, the student should focus on learning more precise collocations and common expressions used in informal correspondence.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The response contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. However, there are frequent grammatical errors throughout the text, including subject-verb agreement issues ('It has been long time we catch'), missing articles, and punctuation errors. For example, 'I hope you'r going great' and 'which is recently build' show a lack of control over basic verb forms and tense consistency. While these errors do not completely impede communication, they are frequent enough to prevent the response from reaching a higher band. More attention to proofreading for basic grammar is recommended.

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

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