Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-08-25
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 joe.
I hope you are in pink health. We live in same town but we could't meet regularly so I have advice to join sports club in our town and learn many games and how to engage your body in active sports.
I know you are busy at work and have no time for other activity but also you should take care of your body. You should engage you body in any sports activity. I know you when We are travelling in bus you share some school time memory which is school time football and you lead the whole team and in school time you was win lats of tournament. I have also interest in football. I just know about a famous football player is couch in our town's sports club. Let's together join this club which will help to keep fit
Hopping you consider it.
Regards.
Puneet
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| 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 (joining a club), and suggesting learning together. However, the development of these ideas is quite limited. The response is also slightly under the 150-word minimum, which impacts the overall task completion. The tone is generally appropriate for an email to a friend, but the lack of detail regarding the 'how' (e.g., specific training sessions or schedules) makes the advice feel somewhat superficial. To improve, you should expand on your ideas with more descriptive language and ensure you meet the minimum word count requirement to fully develop your response.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The email lacks clear paragraphing, which makes the text appear as a single block. While there is a logical progression from the greeting to the suggestion and the closing, the transition between ideas is abrupt. Cohesive devices are minimal and sometimes misused, such as the repetitive use of 'and' and 'but'. The referencing is occasionally unclear, particularly in the sentence regarding the football player and the club. To achieve a higher band, you should use clear paragraph breaks for each main point and incorporate a wider range of linking words (e.g., 'furthermore', 'consequently', 'in addition') to improve the flow of your writing.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.0
The vocabulary is basic and repetitive. Phrases like 'pink health' are non-standard idioms, and 'school time memory' is slightly unnatural. There are also errors in word choice, such as 'couch' instead of 'coach' and 'lats' instead of 'lots'. While the meaning is generally clear, the range of vocabulary is limited, and the errors occasionally distract the reader. To improve, focus on using more precise collocations and expanding your range of descriptive adjectives and verbs. Avoid informal or non-standard expressions and ensure you proofread for common spelling errors.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The response contains frequent grammatical errors that affect the clarity of the message. There are issues with subject-verb agreement (e.g., 'you was win'), tense consistency (e.g., 'you share' vs 'you was'), and article usage. Sentence structures are mostly simple, and there is a lack of complex sentence forms. For example, 'I know you when We are travelling in bus' is grammatically awkward. To improve, focus on mastering basic sentence construction, ensuring consistent verb tenses, and practicing the use of complex structures like relative clauses or conditional sentences to add variety to your writing.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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