Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · IELTS General Essentials · 2026-08-21

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 6.0)

Dear Sam,

How've you been? I'm so excited that you are finally coming to stay with me for a week, and I can't wait to see you. But, I wanted to let you know that I won't be able to come and pick you at the airport, because I have a meeting on Monday at my work.

It is an operational meeting and I will be visited by the market leads along with my other colleagues. Therefore, I'm kind of stuck and will be home only by 5PM. You don't need to worry because I have made necessary arrangements for the day.

Upon arrival, you can wait at pillar number nine of airport arrivals, and my friend, Ashik, will be there to pick you. He will handover the my house key and you may get freshen up and relax until I'm home. Once I'm back, we can go out for fishing and if you are all ok, we can have food from outside for dinner.

See you on Monday, and I hope you are having a great day.

Best Regards

Gokul

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

You have addressed all three bullet points in the prompt, providing details about the keys, directions, and evening plans. However, there is a significant issue with task relevance: the prompt specifies the relative is arriving by train, but your response repeatedly mentions the airport. This is a major inconsistency that affects the task achievement. While the ideas are developed, the failure to follow the specific scenario provided in the instructions prevents a higher score. To improve, ensure you read the prompt details carefully and align your response with the specific context provided.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The letter is logically organized into clear paragraphs, and the progression of ideas is easy to follow. You use some cohesive devices such as 'Therefore', 'Upon arrival', and 'Once I'm back' to link your thoughts effectively. The tone is appropriate for a letter to a family member. However, the transition between the initial greeting and the explanation of the meeting could be smoother. Overall, the structure is coherent, and the paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the different stages of the visit.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You have a sufficient range of vocabulary to convey your message clearly. Phrases like 'operational meeting', 'necessary arrangements', and 'freshen up' are used correctly. There are some minor errors, such as 'handover' (which should be 'hand over' as a verb) and 'have food from outside', which is slightly unnatural. While you attempt to use a variety of words, some choices are a bit basic. Expanding your range of collocations and idiomatic expressions would help you achieve a higher band score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

You demonstrate a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are several grammatical errors, such as 'I will be visited by the market leads' (passive voice is awkward here), 'the my house key' (incorrect determiner usage), and 'if you are all ok' (which is informal and slightly ungrammatical). Despite these errors, the meaning remains clear throughout the letter. To improve, focus on subject-verb agreement and the correct use of articles and prepositions. Increasing the frequency of error-free complex sentences will help improve your score in this criterion.

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

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