Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-08-28

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 Daniel,

Since you asked me to recommend you a new sport, I would like to introduce you to tennis. I think it is a great sport that can be learned rapidly and played during all seasons. You can play outdoor and indoor. It practices a lot your cardio without you even noticing it since you don’t have to do big runnings like in soccer or basketball. To play tennis, you would need to have a tennis racket and a tennis ball. It also requires 2 players. To win the game, the goal is to get the ball to fall into the opponent field. You can learn this sport by first practicing your technique by yourself on a wall. Then, you can start playing against someone to feel the game pace. I could practice tennis with you in my backyard if you would like to. I already have the equipments at home. I would love to coach you!

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

You have successfully addressed all three bullet points in the prompt. You recommended tennis, explained how to learn it (practicing against a wall and then playing matches), and suggested learning it together. The tone is appropriate for an email to a friend. However, the development of ideas is somewhat basic. For example, the explanation of how to learn the sport could be more detailed to fully satisfy the 'well-developed' criteria for higher bands. Overall, you have fulfilled the requirements of the task effectively.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The email is logically organized, with a clear progression from the recommendation to the practical details and finally the invitation to join. You use basic cohesive devices like 'Since', 'Then', and 'However' (implied). To improve, you should use a wider range of linking words and ensure your paragraphing is more distinct. Currently, the response is written as a single block of text; breaking this into two or three paragraphs would significantly improve the visual structure and flow of your writing.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You have a sufficient range of vocabulary to communicate your ideas clearly, such as 'rapidly', 'cardio', and 'opponent field'. However, there are some inaccuracies in word choice and collocation. For instance, 'do big runnings' is unnatural; 'do a lot of running' or 'engage in intense running' would be better. Additionally, 'equipments' is an uncountable noun and should simply be 'equipment'. Expanding your vocabulary to include more precise collocations related to sports would help you reach a higher band.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

You demonstrate a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is always clear, there are several grammatical errors. For example, 'recommend you a new sport' should be 'recommend a new sport to you'. 'You can play outdoor and indoor' should be 'You can play outdoors and indoors'. There are also minor issues with articles and prepositions. While these errors do not impede communication, they are frequent enough to prevent a higher score. Focusing on subject-verb agreement and the correct use of adverbs will improve your accuracy.

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

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