Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Barron's Writing · 2026-10-21

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 Julie,

I hope your are doing well, I am writing this letter to inform you about my plan to travel to Ottawa.

As you remember from our last conversation,I was very eager to travel to Ottawa and finally my vacation has been approved by my employer. I will be traveling to Ottawa with my wife and kids on upcoming weeked by ViaRail Canada our tickets are confirmed.

I would appreciate it if you could advise me on sight seeing as well as entertainment as you know I love visiting natural parks and my wife loves to watch movies, I was thinking about visitng some parks and watching any newly released movie.

Anyways after reaching I would really like to dine at any restaurant of your choise with our wives. As you know my wife is very keen to meet your other half.

I hope to meet you soon,Take care.

Yours truely,

Abby.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The letter covers all three required points: you explain that you are travelling to Ottawa, ask Julie for sightseeing and entertainment recommendations, and suggest dining together. The details about your family’s interests make the request relevant and personal. However, the purpose is not fully clear: you call the trip a “vacation” and mention an employer’s approval, but do not explain what business activity the trip involves. The invitation is also somewhat unclear in “with our wives,” since you have already said you are travelling with your wife and children. Clarify the business purpose and state exactly who you are inviting and what you would like to do together; this would develop the less complete parts of the message.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The information follows a generally sensible order: you introduce the trip, describe your plans, ask for recommendations, and then invite Julie to meet. The letter format and closing also help the reader recognise the purpose and audience. This clear overall arrangement is a strength. Some links between ideas are less smooth, however. The long sentence beginning “I would appreciate it if you could advise me” combines the request, both spouses’ interests, and your proposed activities, making the message harder to follow. “Anyways after reaching” also shifts abruptly into the invitation. Use separate sentences or paragraphs for the trip, recommendations, and invitation, and add clearer transitions so the progression feels more natural rather than compressed.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use enough vocabulary to communicate the main ideas, including “sightseeing,” “entertainment,” “natural parks,” and “newly released movie.” These choices show some range beyond very basic language. However, several spelling and word-choice errors are noticeable, such as “weeked,” “choise,” and “truely,” and “sight seeing” is conventionally written as one word. Some expressions are also imprecise or unnatural: “advise me on sightseeing” and “with our wives” do not convey the intended meaning as clearly as they could. Choose more natural collocations and check spelling carefully. For example, you could ask for recommendations for “places to visit” and invite Julie and her spouse to “join us for dinner.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The letter includes both simple sentences and attempts at more complex forms, such as “I would appreciate it if you could advise me” and “As you know my wife is very keen to meet your other half.” The intended meaning is generally understandable, but some grammatical and punctuation errors remain. “I hope your are doing well” should be “I hope you are doing well,” while “I was thinking about visitng” needs the gerund form “visiting.” The sentence beginning “I would appreciate it” runs several clauses together, and the opening comma splice joins two complete sentences incorrectly. Use full stops to separate complete thoughts, and review verb forms, possessives, and punctuation to make your varied sentence structures more controlled.

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

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