Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-08-22

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 Ali,

I am happy to hear that you want to learn a new sport. I think badminton would be a good choice for you because it is easy to learn and also enjoyable. It is also a good way to active and spend your free time.

You can learn badminton at the sports centre. You can learn a beginner's class and learn the basic rules and skills from a coach. You can also practice regularly with other players. Waching simple videos online can help you improve your skills.

We learn badminton together. We can go sports centre twice a week and practice togther. I think it will be more fun and we can help eachother.

Let me know what you think.

Best wishes,

Amad.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

You have addressed all three bullet points: recommending a sport, explaining how to learn it, and suggesting you learn it together. However, the response is significantly under the 150-word minimum requirement, which limits the development of your ideas. While the content is relevant, the brevity prevents you from providing the depth and detail expected at higher bands. To improve, you should expand on your explanations—for example, by describing why the sports centre is a good environment or detailing the specific benefits of learning together. The tone is appropriate for an email to a friend, but the lack of length negatively impacts the overall task achievement score.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The email is organized into clear paragraphs, which helps the reader follow your message. You use basic cohesive devices like 'also' and 'because' to link ideas. However, the transitions between sentences are sometimes repetitive, and the overall flow is quite simple. To improve, try using a wider variety of linking words and phrases (e.g., 'Furthermore', 'In addition to this', 'Consequently') to create a more natural progression of ideas. The paragraphing is logical, but the brevity of the paragraphs makes the structure feel somewhat underdeveloped.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

Your vocabulary is adequate for the task and allows you to communicate your message clearly. You use common words effectively, such as 'beginner's class' and 'sports centre'. However, there is a lack of less common or more precise vocabulary. For instance, instead of saying 'good choice', you could use 'excellent option' or 'ideal activity'. There are also minor errors, such as 'good way to active' (should be 'good way to stay active') and 'Waching' (spelling error). Expanding your range of collocations and ensuring accurate word forms will help you reach a higher band.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

You use a mix of simple and some complex sentence structures, which is generally clear. However, there are several grammatical errors that affect the accuracy of your writing. For example, 'You can learn a beginner's class' is slightly unnatural (better: 'You can join a beginner's class'), and 'We learn badminton together' should be 'We could learn badminton together' to express a suggestion. Additionally, 'help eachother' is a spelling error ('each other'). To improve, focus on subject-verb agreement and the correct use of modal verbs for suggestions.

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

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