Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Barron's Writing · 2026-10-24

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 Niara,

I hope you are doing well. It Has been a long time since we caught up. I have some exciting news to share with you that I am planning to visit your city next Friday for my business trip and I have some spare time after my meetings.Therefore, I would like to catch up with you and want to explore city.That is the reason I am writing this letter to you.

As I will have some free time in the afternoon, I would like to explore some famous tourists attractions. Moreover, I also want to try some local and traditional food because whenever we talk about your city, you always mentioned about it. In addition, I want to buy souverniers and gifts for my family. I am sure that you can recommend some good place to me.

I would like to invite you to sightseeing at The Tapi river, alongside we can also talk about our daily life and buy some clothes for ourselves. Furthermore, we can also see the famous castle in your city.

I would be happy if you can come and meet me.

I am waiting for a positive response from your side.

Best regards,

Hani.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.0

You address all three points clearly: you explain that the visit is for a business trip, ask Niara to recommend attractions, food and places to shop, and invite her to explore the Tapi River and castle with you. The friendly tone is appropriate, and the purpose of writing is easy to understand. The ideas are relevant and supported with specific plans, such as trying local food and buying gifts. To make the response more fully developed, clarify the timing and practical details of your invitation—for example, suggest a particular afternoon or ask whether your friend is available. The sightseeing request could also be more direct, such as asking which attractions she recommends, rather than relying mainly on a general request for a good place.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The letter has a clear overall structure: an opening explains the trip, the middle paragraphs cover sightseeing interests and the invitation, and the closing asks for a reply. Linking expressions such as “Moreover,” “In addition,” and “Furthermore” help show how ideas relate, and the reader can follow the message. However, some connections feel mechanical or unclear. “Therefore” and “That is the reason I am writing this letter” repeat the same purpose, while “alongside” does not clearly connect the activities in the invitation. The first paragraph also packs several ideas into one long sentence. Use fewer, more natural transitions and separate the trip details from the request to improve progression and cohesion.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use enough vocabulary to communicate the main plans, including “business trip,” “traditional food,” “sightseeing,” and “recommend.” There is some variety in the activities you mention, so the message is not overly repetitive. However, several word-choice, collocation and spelling problems reduce precision: “tourists attractions” should be “tourist attractions,” “souverniers” is misspelled, and “mentioned about it” is not a natural phrase. “Some good place” also needs a more suitable plural or singular construction. Aim for accurate, natural combinations rather than adding more vocabulary; for example, “suggest a few places to visit” and “pick up souvenirs for my family” would express your ideas more idiomatically.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple sentences and longer structures, including “As I will have some free time in the afternoon…” and “I would be happy if…”. The message remains understandable, and the invitation and purpose are conveyed despite some errors. There are issues with sentence boundaries and punctuation: “Therefore” is joined to the preceding sentence without a space, and the opening paragraph runs several independent ideas together. Some grammatical patterns also need attention, such as “I would be happy if you can come,” where “could” is more appropriate, and “I am planning to visit … for my business trip,” which would be more natural as “on a business trip.” Check capitalization after sentence breaks and use full stops to control long sentences.

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