Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-11-03

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 Matthew,

I'm glad you asked for my advice about learning a new sport. I would suggest you to try swimming. Swimming is a very good sport to learn as it gives a good physical activity. I'm recommending you this activity because you like to work out and swimming burns out so many calories. This is because most of the muscles in our body work while swimming.

There is a well known swimming school in our town where you can get enrolled. In order to learn swimming, you need to take help from a personal coach who will teach from basics to adavanced movements.

I would like to learn swimming as well. It would be so much fun if we get enrolled together. I always wanted to learn swimming but I was nervous to do alone. Therefore, if you plan to take admission inform me so that I can learn with you.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.0

The email addresses all three requirements: you recommend swimming, explain that your friend could enrol at a local swimming school and learn with a coach, and invite Matthew to join you. The advice is relevant and your reason that swimming uses many muscles connects it to his interest in working out. The invitation is also made clear through “It would be so much fun if we get enrolled together.” To strengthen the response further, develop the practical advice with a little more detail, such as how to find or contact the school, or what a beginner’s first lessons might involve. The explanation of why swimming suits Matthew is useful but somewhat general, so a more specific link to his preferences would make the ideas more fully supported.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The message has a clear overall progression: it introduces the recommendation, explains how to learn, and ends with the suggestion that you learn together. Paragraphing supports these shifts, and linking expressions such as “In order to” and “Therefore” help show relationships between ideas. This meets the lower-band expectation of coherent overall arrangement, while the clear sequence also shows some stronger control. However, cohesion is occasionally mechanical: “This is because” repeats the explanation of swimming’s benefits, and “Therefore” makes the final invitation sound more formal than a friendly email needs to be. Use a wider range of natural links and connect the school and coaching details more smoothly to make the progression feel less formulaic.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use adequate vocabulary for the topic, including “physical activity,” “muscles,” “personal coach,” and “advanced movements,” so the reader can understand the recommendation and learning plan. There are also attempts at more specific expressions, although some are inaccurate or unnatural in context: “gives a good physical activity,” “burns out so many calories,” and “get enrolled” do not collocate naturally. The spelling error “adavanced” also affects accuracy. These issues do not prevent understanding, but they limit the precision and naturalness of the language. Aim to learn common word partnerships for exercise and registration, and choose expressions that sound conversational in an email to a friend.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

The response includes a mix of simple sentences and more developed structures, such as the relative clause “a personal coach who will teach…” and the conditional “if you plan to take admission…”. Meaning remains clear, and some sentences are controlled accurately. However, some grammatical errors remain. For example, “I would suggest you to try” uses an incorrect verb pattern; write “I would suggest trying” or “I would advise you to try.” In “I was nervous to do alone,” the infinitive needs a subject or object, as in “I was nervous about doing it alone.” The conditional sentence would also be more natural as “if you decide to enrol, let me know.” Greater accuracy in these patterns would improve control.

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