Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-09-14

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 Johnathan,

I am writing this letter to respond to your previous one about your interest in learning a new sport, and knowing you after all these years, I believe that the most suitable sport to learn would be weightlifting. I have 3 main reasons to why, challenging, life changing, and discipline.

First, weightlifting is a sport that challenges the body and mind at the same time, it will enhance your endurance, your strength and physical shape, and who doesn't want to look good comes summer time? With your physique you will be able to feel like a whole other person, because you will be; especially since this sport will make you more focused, determined and sharp minded.

Moreover, wepightlifting will also change your life in a way that you never expect, you become more active, more efficient in your work and studies, better at handling tough decisions, because with that determination and focused mind, you can do anything you set your mind to.

Lastly, I think discipline is the biggest reason you should go for this sport. I find that being able to hold on to a tight schedule with healthy food, training hours and managing your life at the same time will teach you on how to become a better person overall.

In the end, I think this sport will be beneficial for you, and since I am planning on starting my weight loss journey, if we do this together and motivate each other, we will be superstars!

With love,

Ethan

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.5

The response fully satisfies all requirements of the task. You successfully recommended weightlifting as a suitable sport for your friend, explained how your friend could learn it by focusing on discipline, structure, and proper training hours, and suggested that you both learn the sport together to motivate each other. The tone is appropriately friendly and conversational for a General Training email. Your ideas are well-developed and supported with reasons such as physical endurance, mental focus, and personal discipline. The purpose of the letter is clear throughout, and all bullet points from the prompt are thoroughly covered.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

Ideas are logically sequenced and progress naturally from the initial recommendation to the specific benefits, and finally to the joint proposal. Paragraphing is used effectively, with each body paragraph focusing on a distinct aspect of why weightlifting is beneficial. Cohesive devices such as 'First', 'Moreover', and 'Lastly' are employed to guide the reader through your arguments, although referencing is occasionally slightly repetitive ('this sport', 'you will be'). Overall, the letter demonstrates a clear organizational structure and cohesive flow.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.5

You demonstrate a sufficient and flexible range of vocabulary suitable for a friendly letter. Words and phrases like 'endurance', 'physique', 'sharp minded', and 'efficient' show a good attempt at less common lexical items. There is a minor typo ('wepightlifting'), but it does not impede communication. Word choice is generally appropriate, though some phrases lean towards informality that could be slightly more polished ('come summer time', 'superstars').

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, incorporating conditional clauses ('if we do this together') and relative clauses ('a sport that challenges'). While the majority of sentences are clear and communicate your message effectively, there are some run-on sentences and punctuation errors, such as comma splices (e.g., 'at the same time, it will enhance...'). Despite these minor grammatical slips, your control of complex structures is good and does not impede communication.

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

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