Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Barron's Writing · 2026-09-19

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 6.5)

Dear Monica,

I hope this letter finds you in good spirits. I am finally planning to come to your city- Abbotsford this weekend.

Actually, my company is sponsoring my trip to Surrey. I will be staying there one week in the Sheraton hotel. During my stay, I have several in-person meetings with the managemnt team of long term care homes on Mondays and Tuesdays.

I want your suggestions about the famous places around the city. Are there any beautiful beaches or lakes nearby? I would definitely love to go for hiking if there are some interesting tracks available.

It would be great if you could come and visit me during my trip. We can plan to go out for food to some famous Indian restaurants or a visit to a mall will be amazing.

Let me know when you are free during that week. I am so excited to see you.

Yours sincerely,

Navneet

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

The response successfully covers all bullet points required by the prompt. You clearly explain the purpose of your trip by mentioning your company-sponsored meetings at long-term care homes in Surrey, while also setting the context of visiting your friend in Abbotsford. You effectively ask about sightseeing opportunities by inquiring about beaches, lakes, and hiking tracks. Furthermore, you extend a natural invitation to your friend to visit you, suggesting activities such as dining out at Indian restaurants or visiting a mall. Your tone is appropriately warm, friendly, and informal throughout the letter. All parts of the task are well-developed and addressed logically, satisfying the requirements for a Band 7.0 performance.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

Your letter displays a clear logical organisation and progression from greeting to the final closing remarks. Paragraphs are used appropriately to separate distinct ideas, such as your travel purpose in the second paragraph, your sightseeing questions in the third, and your invitation in the fourth. You use basic cohesive devices adequately to connect your thoughts, such as 'Actually', 'During my stay', and 'It would be great if'. While referencing is generally clear, some transitions feel slightly mechanical rather than entirely natural, which keeps the response at a Band 7.0 level.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary suitable for a general social letter, using appropriate phrases like 'good spirits', 'sponsoring my trip', and 'in-person meetings'. There are a few minor spelling and word-choice inaccuracies, notably 'managemnt' instead of 'management', and mentioning Abbotsford in the first paragraph while your hotel is in Surrey creates a slight geographical inconsistency, though this does not impede overall communication. You also attempt some less common vocabulary items such as 'sponsoring', achieving a Band 6.0 standard for lexical resource.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.5

You utilise a satisfactory mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating good control over standard grammar structures. Examples of well-formed complex sentences include 'It would be great if you could come and visit me during my trip.' and 'Are there any beautiful beaches or lakes nearby?'. While there are minor punctuation slips, such as the hyphenation and phrasing in 'city- Abbotsford', the majority of your sentences are clear and error-free, rarely impeding communication. Your grammatical control comfortably aligns with a Band 6.5 descriptor.

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