Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-10-19
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 5.0)
Dear My friend,
Your mom ask some sport that I can recomended to you. As you being advantage in height,because you very tall I give you or I recomend to you, to try new sport this sport has advantages if your are tall.This sport is called Basketball.A lots of my friend is very much like this sport that"s why I want you to join in this sport together with a lots of friends of mine.I think this sport is very easy to you because of hieght advantages.This sport is very happy to do.you can joined practice and ask some moves to become a good basketball player.
On the coming week we go to basketball court to start and to practise together with my friend. This sport is a lit of benifits in our health you can stay healthy with this sport.Hope that you enjoy to play this kind of sport .
Your Friend Busisi
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 4.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 4.5 |
| Overall | 5.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5
You address the main points by recommending basketball, explaining that your friend could practise and learn moves, and proposing that you go to the court together next week. The reason that basketball may suit your friend because of their height is relevant, and the friendly closing fits the email task. However, the advice on how to learn is brief: “join practice and ask some moves” does not explain where to find coaching or what a beginner should do. The invitation is also not fully clear because you mention going with your friends, rather than directly asking your friend to learn alongside you. Develop these details and make the invitation explicit so each part of the task is covered more fully.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5
The response follows a broadly sensible order: it introduces basketball, gives a reason for choosing it, suggests practice, and ends with a plan to visit the court. This makes the overall purpose understandable. However, most of the message is presented as one long paragraph, so the recommendation, learning advice, and invitation are not clearly separated. Several ideas are joined with repeated forms such as “this sport” and “because,” which makes the progression feel repetitive rather than smoothly connected. Use short paragraphs and clearer links—for example, one paragraph for why basketball suits your friend and another for how and when you could learn together. This would make the organisation easier to follow.
Lexical Resource: Band 4.5
You use a small set of relevant words, including “basketball,” “practice,” “moves,” and “healthy,” so the reader can identify the topic and your basic suggestions. However, vocabulary is limited and repeated, particularly “sport” and “this sport,” and several inaccurate choices make parts of the message difficult to interpret. For example, “a lots of my friend” and “this sport is very happy to do” do not express the intended meaning naturally. Spelling errors such as “recomended,” “hieght,” and “benifits” also reduce clarity. Build a wider set of accurate phrases for giving advice and describing learning, and check spelling and collocations before sending the email.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.5
The response mainly uses simple statements and attempts a few longer sentences, such as the explanation beginning “As you being advantage in height.” These attempts show an effort to connect ideas, but sentence structures are often faulty and the range remains limited. Errors in verb forms and agreement occur in examples such as “Your mom ask,” “you can joined,” and “A lots of my friend is.” Articles and sentence boundaries are also inconsistent, making some sentences hard to read. Practise forming accurate simple sentences first, then combine them with controlled clauses—for instance, “Because you are tall, basketball could suit you.” Careful proofreading for verbs, agreement, and punctuation would improve accuracy.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
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