Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-09-11
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 Rahul,
I am writing to answer you regarding joining a new sport. As you know, I was showing my interest to play Cricket. I would like to suggest you to learn play Cricket. This is going to be easy for both of us because we are good in throwing and hitting skills. So this could be our best decision to get training for Cricket from one of the best coaching centre located in Amritsar. My friend’s dad is coach in that club, so it is going to very easy for us to be a member of it.
In addition, I was not interested to join it alone, but now, we will join together. It is going to be very entertaining for us, even, rememberable because we are going to meet some of international player also while do practise there such as Abiheik Sharma
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The response addresses all three bullet points: recommending cricket, explaining how to learn it, and suggesting you learn together. However, the response is under the 150-word minimum, which negatively impacts the development of ideas. The explanation of how to learn is somewhat brief, and the suggestion to learn together is integrated but lacks depth. Because the response is under-length, it cannot fully develop the ideas to a higher band level. To improve, ensure you expand on your points with more detail to meet the word count requirement.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0
The letter is organized into two paragraphs, which is acceptable for a short email. There is a basic logical progression, but the use of cohesive devices is somewhat mechanical and limited. For example, 'In addition' is used to start the second paragraph, but the transition between the recommendation and the logistics is abrupt. The referencing is generally clear, but the overall flow could be improved by using a wider variety of linking words to connect ideas more fluidly within and between sentences.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The vocabulary is adequate for the task but lacks variety and precision. There are some awkward collocations, such as 'showing my interest to play' instead of 'expressing an interest in playing' and 'rememberable' instead of 'memorable'. The range of vocabulary is limited to basic, everyday terms. To reach a higher band, you should aim to use more sophisticated collocations and avoid repetitive phrasing. The spelling of 'practise' (as a verb) is correct, but the overall lexical range is restricted.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The response contains a mix of simple and some complex sentence structures. However, there are frequent grammatical errors that affect the flow, such as 'I would like to suggest you to learn play Cricket' (should be 'suggest that you learn to play cricket') and 'my friend’s dad is coach' (missing article 'a'). There are also issues with prepositions and verb forms, such as 'while do practise'. While the meaning is generally clear, these persistent errors prevent the writing from reaching a higher band.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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