Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Barron's Writing · 2026-08-05

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

You are planning a business trip to another city. You will have some free time to do some sightseeing while you are there.
 

Write a letter to a friend who lives in the city you will visit. In your letter:
• explain the purpose of the trip.
• ask about things to do and see in the city.
• invite your friend to do something with you during your visit.

You do NOT need to write any addresses.

Begin your letter as follows:

Dear ____

Student answer (Band 6.0)

Dear Natalie,

Hi!! what's cooking and good looking. I hope this letter will find you in best of spirits.

I'm writing to let you know that I'm coming to your city, Milton, for my business meeting for 10 days on August 6th, 2026. Therefore, I thought it's a good idea to let you know, so that we could meet up and visit any famous places together.

I heard somewhere that there are lot of trails in your city for hiking as well as cafes. Furthermore, I'm more curious about to visit Aquariums, especially Royal Aquariums because they had all kind of fishes, especially sharks and whales.

I will be free from my business meetings after every 5pm. If you are available then do let me know, we will go together and have fun in any beautiful sightseeing place.

I hope to hear from you soon,

Lots of love,'

Kritika

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The letter addresses all three bullet points: the purpose of the trip, a request for recommendations, and an invitation to meet. However, the response is slightly under the 150-word minimum, which impacts the overall score. While the ideas are relevant, they are somewhat underdeveloped. For instance, the mention of the 'Royal Aquarium' is specific, but the explanation of the business trip is quite brief. To improve, you should expand on your ideas to ensure the letter feels complete and meets the length requirement. The tone is appropriately informal for a letter to a friend, fitting the task requirements well.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The letter is organized into logical paragraphs, which helps the reader follow your message. You use some cohesive devices like 'Therefore' and 'Furthermore' to link your ideas. However, the transition between the opening and the body paragraphs is a bit abrupt. The use of 'Hi!! what's cooking and good looking' is quite informal and slightly jarring. To improve, ensure that your paragraph transitions are smoother and that you use a wider variety of linking words to connect your sentences more naturally throughout the text.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You have a sufficient range of vocabulary to convey your message, such as 'in best of spirits' and 'sightseeing'. However, there are some inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'curious about to visit' (should be 'curious about visiting') and 'had all kind of fishes' (should be 'has all kinds of fish'). The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task but lacks the precision and flexibility required for higher bands. Focusing on correct collocations and avoiding repetitive phrasing will help improve your score in this area.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are several grammatical errors that persist. For example, 'I'm coming to your city... for my business meeting for 10 days' is slightly redundant, and 'they had all kind of fishes' contains a subject-verb agreement error and an incorrect pluralization of 'fish'. Additionally, there are minor punctuation issues, such as the comma usage after 'soon'. While these errors do not prevent communication, they occur frequently enough to limit your score. Aim to proofread your work to catch these small but common mistakes.

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

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