Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · 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 6.5)

Dear Friend,

How are you? I hope you are doing well. I am writing an email to you to join basket ball club which is beneficial for your good health.

Yesterday, I read a newspaper where i came to know about there is a basketball club is going to start in my hometown which runs sessions thrice in week. From this newspaper, i got an idea to inform you regarding basketball club as you have a keen interest in this sport.

There are various ways to learn this sport. First and foremost, the classes are flexible. We are able to select classes according to our schedule. Secondly, in this club, professionals teaches us the rules of the sport and focus more on the training so we can learn this sport quickly.

I am planning that we both learn this sport together which not only help us to learn faster but also helping in improving basketball skills as we practice together after sessions.

Let me know what you think. I am looking forward to hear you.

Best wishes

Shivani

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

The response successfully addresses all three bullet points of the prompt. You recommend basketball, explain how to learn it through the club's flexible sessions and professional training, and suggest learning it together. The tone is appropriate for a letter to a friend. To reach a higher band, you could develop your ideas further by adding more specific details about the club's atmosphere or why you think your friend would specifically enjoy this sport, rather than just mentioning their general interest. Overall, the task is fully covered.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The email is logically organized into clear paragraphs, each focusing on a specific part of the task. You use basic cohesive devices such as 'First and foremost', 'Secondly', and 'not only... but also' to link your ideas. However, the flow is occasionally slightly mechanical. The transition between the introduction and the body could be smoother, and some sentences feel a bit disjointed. To improve, try to vary your linking words and ensure that the progression of ideas feels more natural rather than just following the bullet points strictly.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'beneficial', 'keen interest', and 'flexible'. However, there are some inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'I am writing an email to you to join basket ball club' (should be 'to suggest you join') and 'runs sessions thrice in week' (should be 'three times a week'). There are also minor errors like 'hear you' instead of 'hear from you'. While these do not impede communication, they limit the score. Expanding your vocabulary to include more precise collocations would help.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While you attempt complex sentences, there are frequent grammatical errors, such as 'I came to know about there is a basketball club is going to start' (incorrect clause structure) and 'professionals teaches us' (subject-verb agreement error). Additionally, there are minor punctuation and capitalization issues, such as the lowercase 'i' in 'i came to know'. The errors are noticeable but do not prevent the reader from understanding your message. Focusing on subject-verb agreement and consistent capitalization will improve your accuracy significantly.

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

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