Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · IELTS General Essentials · 2026-08-14

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

A family member is coming to stay with you. He/she will be arriving by train in the morning, but you won’t be home until the evening.

• explain arrangements you have made for them to have keys and get into the house

• tell your relative how to get from the train station to your house

• say when you will be home and suggest what you could do together that evening

Student answer (Band 6.5)

Hello,

I hope you are well. I am really excited that you are coming to stay with me. Unfortunately, I won't be home on the day of your arrival. I am travelling for work and will be home in the evening. So, I am writing to guide you so that there is no trouble for you to reach my house.

When you get out of the train station, take a cab to my house by asking the cab driver to drop you at 24 Troy Street near the Liberty museum. When you reach my house, you can find a key under the second pot on the right of the door. You can rest in the guest bedroom besides the kitchen. Also feel free to use the kitchen. In the evening, we can go out and grab some dinner.

I hope to see you soon. Have a happy and safe journey!

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

You have successfully addressed all three bullet points in the prompt. You clearly explained the key arrangements, provided specific directions from the train station, and stated your arrival time while suggesting an evening activity. The tone is appropriate for a letter to a family member. However, the response is quite brief. While it meets the minimum length requirement, the ideas could be further developed to reach a higher band. For example, you could have provided more detail about the dinner plans or offered more specific advice on navigating the station to make the letter feel more natural and fully developed.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The letter is logically organized, with each paragraph focusing on a specific aspect of the prompt. The progression of ideas is clear, moving from the arrival logistics to the house access and finally the evening plans. You use basic cohesive devices such as 'When you get out', 'Also', and 'In the evening' to link your sentences. To improve, try to incorporate a wider variety of linking words and transition phrases to improve the flow between sentences. The paragraphing is appropriate for a short letter, though the structure is quite simple.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

Your vocabulary is adequate for the task and allows for clear communication. You use functional phrases like 'guide you', 'take a cab', and 'grab some dinner'. However, the range is somewhat limited and relies on fairly common, everyday language. To achieve a higher band, you should attempt to use more precise or descriptive vocabulary. For instance, instead of 'no trouble', you could use 'ensure a smooth arrival', and instead of 'grab some dinner', you might use 'dine at a local restaurant'. There are no spelling errors, which is a positive aspect of your writing.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.5

You demonstrate a good control of basic sentence structures, and your writing is generally accurate. You use a mix of simple and compound sentences effectively. There is a minor error in the phrase 'guest bedroom besides the kitchen'; 'besides' means 'in addition to', whereas you likely meant 'beside' (next to). Additionally, the sentence 'I am writing to guide you so that there is no trouble for you to reach my house' is slightly wordy. Increasing the use of complex sentence structures, such as relative clauses or conditional sentences, would help demonstrate a wider grammatical range.

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

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