Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-10-14

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 6.0)

Dear Jacob,

I hope you've been doing well! It's been ages since we last spoke, and I've so much to tell you. I'm glad to hear that you seek my advice for learning a new sport.

In my opinion, you're such a flexible person, which means, table tennis is the best choice that you should learn. Trust me, it's not that difficult, and I'd love to help you in that. Keep in mind, you need to move around the table to save the ball from falling it down onto the floor.

First, you need to practice holding the racket. It sounds weird but it's necessary to master the game. At first, you might feel like it's challenging, but you'll learn this eventually after lot of practice.

Also, I'm available on weekends so, if you want to play table tennis with me, I'm always ready for it. I was awarded by few medals too. Thus, I can guide you better to be expert of this game.

Let me know what you think about it! I'll catch you up soon.

Warm regards,

Rutvi

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

You address all three parts of the task: you recommend table tennis, give some initial learning advice, and invite Jacob to practise with you on weekends. The personal tone and details about your availability and medals make the email relevant and friendly. However, the explanation of how to learn the sport is less fully developed than the recommendation and invitation. Advice such as practising how to hold the racket is useful, but the instruction to move around the table to stop the ball falling is unclear and does not explain a learning method in much detail. To strengthen the response, add practical steps, such as joining a beginner class, learning basic serves, or practising rallies together, and explain why table tennis suits Jacob specifically.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The email has a clear overall arrangement: an opening, a recommendation with advice, an invitation to play, and a friendly closing. Paragraphing helps separate these functions, and phrases such as “First” and “Also” guide the reader through the suggestions. The progression is generally easy to follow, although some linking is mechanical and a few connections are unclear. For example, “which means” does not connect smoothly to the recommendation, while “Thus” makes the medals sound like a conclusion rather than a direct reason you can guide Jacob. The sentence about moving around the table also interrupts the learning advice because its meaning is difficult to follow. Use more natural transitions and make the relationship between each supporting detail and your main suggestion explicit.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use enough vocabulary to communicate the main ideas and maintain a friendly email style, including “master the game,” “challenging,” and “guide you.” However, several word choices and collocations are noticeably inaccurate or unnatural, which limits precision. “Save the ball from falling it down onto the floor” is difficult to interpret, and “awarded by few medals” does not express the intended achievement naturally. “Be expert of this game” is also an awkward phrase. Aim to learn common sport-related collocations and choose wording that states your meaning directly. For example, describe practising basic strokes or keeping the ball in play, and say that you have won medals and can help Jacob become more skilled.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple sentences and more complex forms, including the conditional invitation “if you want to play table tennis with me” and the contrast in “At first, you might feel like it’s challenging, but you’ll learn this eventually.” Meaning is generally clear, but some grammatical errors remain. In “which means, table tennis is the best choice,” the clause is not punctuated or constructed correctly; “after lot of practice” needs an article; and “I was awarded by few medals” has problems with the passive construction and article use. The sentence about saving the ball also has an unclear pronoun structure. Review clause punctuation, articles, and passive forms, and check that pronouns clearly refer to the intended noun. More accurate control of these patterns would make the email smoother.

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

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