Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · IELTS Predictions Nov 2026 · 2026-11-11

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

You have just returned to Canada after spending a week with your friend Maya at her home in Portugal. It was the first time you had visited her since she moved there last year, and she made you feel very welcome. You have not had a chance to write to her yet, but would like to get in touch soon.

Write a letter to your friend Maya. In your letter

• thank Maya for having you to stay and say what you enjoyed most about the visit
• tell her about your life at home since you returned
• invite her to stay with you and suggest a suitable time for her to come

You do NOT need to write any addresses.

Begin your letter as follows:

Dear ...............,

Student answer (Band 6.0)

DEAR MAYA,

I HOPE YOU ARE DOING WELL. TODAY, I AM WRITING THIS LETTER TO THANK YOU. AS YOU KNOW, IT WAS MY FIRST EXPERIENCE VISITING PORTUGAL. IT BECAME ONE OF THE MOST MEMORABLE MEMORIES OF MY LIFE. LIVING IN THE HOTEL AND SPENDING GREAT TIME IN THUNDER PARK WAS THE BEST PART OF THE WHOLE TRIP.

NOW EVERY DAY, I AM FEELING LONELY AND BORED. MOST OF THE TIME, I WAS SCROLLING THROUGH MY PHONE GALLERY AND WATCHING VIDEOS AND PHOTOS.YESTERDAY, I WAS CRYING BECAUSE I MISSED YOU A LOT. I AM PLANNING TO JOIN A PART-TIME JOB SO THAT I CAN SPEND MY TIME OVER THERE.

BUT I REALLY WISH THAT YOU WOULD COME AND VISIT ME. SO THAT WE CAN STAY TOGETHER AGAIN AND MAKE MARVELOUS MEMORIES. AND ONE MORE THING I WOULD LIKE TO SUGGEST IS THAT JUNE AND JULY ARE SUITABLE TIMES TO VISIT HERE. OTHERWISE, YOU KNOW, SNOW MAKES IT DIFFICULT TO TRAVEL.

ONCE AGAIN, THANK YOU.

ARSH

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You address all three points: you thank Maya, identify the visit as memorable, describe how you have felt since returning, and invite her to Canada in June or July. The details about looking through photos and missing her make the letter personal. However, the visit is not described consistently: “Living in the hotel” does not explain the welcoming stay at Maya’s home, and “spending great time in Thunder Park” gives little detail about what you enjoyed there. Your update about home is also somewhat unclear, especially the plan to join a part-time job “so that I can spend my time over there.” Explain what you mean and add a specific detail about life at home. These points are relevant, but some are less fully developed than others.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The letter has a clear overall arrangement: thanks and memories come first, followed by news from home and then the invitation. Paragraph breaks help the reader follow these stages, and phrases such as “Now” and “But” signal changes in focus. This gives the response a coherent progression. Some connections are less smooth, however. “So that we can stay together again” is separated from the invitation by a full stop, making it read as a fragment, while “And one more thing I would like to suggest” is a rather mechanical transition. The sequence from feeling lonely to planning a job is also not clearly explained. Link these ideas more naturally and use a direct closing invitation to make the letter flow more flexibly.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use enough vocabulary to communicate the main ideas and convey a warm, personal tone. Phrases such as “memorable memories,” “missed you a lot,” and “make marvelous memories” show an effort to express emotion, while “suitable times to visit” communicates the proposed timing. However, some word choices and combinations are unnatural or imprecise, including “first experience visiting Portugal,” “spending great time,” and “spend my time over there.” “Memorable memories” also repeats the same idea. These choices do not prevent understanding, but they limit precision and naturalness. Aim for familiar, accurate collocations rather than adding elaborate adjectives, and choose wording that clearly distinguishes your stay with Maya from other activities during the trip.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You use a mix of simple statements and longer structures, including “I am planning to join a part-time job so that I can spend my time over there.” Most of the message remains understandable, and the basic sentence patterns are generally clear. Some grammatical errors and punctuation problems remain. “So that we can stay together again and make marvelous memories” is not a complete sentence as written; connect it to the invitation. The tense shift in “Now every day, I am feeling lonely” followed by “Most of the time, I was scrolling” makes the timeline less consistent. There are also missing spaces after full stops, as in “photos.Yesterday,” and unnecessary spaces before punctuation. Use complete sentences, keep past and present time references consistent, and proofread punctuation.

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

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