Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Barron's Writing · 2026-10-07

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 friend i hope find you well it feels like ages since we last catch up i am writing to let you know that i will be visitring your city lazst next month foe work my company is sending me to attend a three day industry conference and i will be presenting our new marketing strategy on the final day however i have purposely booked my return flight for a couple of days later so i can have free time to explore since you know the area so well i was hoping you could give me some recomendations on what to see and do but i do also appreciate any tips on local restaurants or hidden gems tat tourists uually miss most importantly in would love to see you while i am there are you free on saturday after my conference end i would delighted if you joibn me for dinner or perhaps show me around your favourite part of the city let me know what your schedule is like i am really looking forward to seeing you best wishes alex

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.5

The letter clearly fulfils all three requirements. You explain the business purpose with useful detail: you will attend a three-day industry conference and present a marketing strategy. You also ask for recommendations on sights, activities, restaurants and places tourists may miss, then invite your friend to dinner or to show you around on Saturday. These details make the message relevant and give your friend clear ways to respond. The purpose and requests are well extended, although the invitation could be slightly more specific about when or where you would meet. Overall, the content is clear and appropriately developed; a little more precision in the final invitation would make the response feel even more complete and polished.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The ideas follow a sensible order: you explain the trip, ask for local advice, and then suggest meeting. This progression helps the reader understand the purpose of the letter. However, the response is presented as one long, largely unpunctuated sequence, so the shifts between these points are not visually clear and several ideas run together. For example, the conference details, sightseeing request and invitation would be easier to follow as separate paragraphs. The linking phrases such as “since you know the area so well” and “most importantly” are relevant, but the letter relies on them within an extended sentence rather than using clear sentence boundaries. Organise the message into short paragraphs and use punctuation to make the progression more controlled.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range of vocabulary for a friendly letter, including task-specific expressions such as “industry conference,” “marketing strategy,” “hidden gems” and “return flight.” These choices communicate the situation and your requests effectively, and “hidden gems” adds a natural, informal touch. However, several spelling errors—such as “recomendations,” “uually” and “joibn”—reduce accuracy, while “free time” and “things to see and do” are quite general. A few more precise expressions would make the requests sound more fluent and varied. Check spelling carefully and choose collocations that fit the context, for example, asking for “local attractions” or “places off the beaten track.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The letter attempts to connect ideas using subordinate clauses, as in “since you know the area so well,” and includes questions and conditional-style requests. This shows some variety beyond short, simple sentences. However, many clauses are joined without full stops or other appropriate punctuation, making sentence boundaries unclear. There are also errors in verb forms and sentence construction: “i hope find you well” needs a verb after “hope,” “since we last catch up” needs a past-tense form, and “i would delighted” is missing “be.” The question “are you free on saturday after my conference end” also needs a clearer clause structure. Use shorter sentences, check verb forms, and punctuate questions and sentence endings consistently.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.