Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-11-08

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

The younger sister of one of your friends is thinking about spending a year studying abroad as part of her university course. You did this recently, and she has asked you about your experience.

Write a letter to your friend's sister. In your letter

• tell her where you studied during your year abroad

• describe what you learnt about the country you studied in

• explain why your year abroad was helpful for your studies

Begin your letter as follows:
Dear........,

Student answer (Band 5.0)

Dear Reena,

I hope you are doing well. I was thrilled when I get to know you are going to join the same science research course in the same university Canada, Edmonton, which I completed recently. I am writing to share my invaluable experience with the university's teachers and the city I lived in. I stayed in an Indian community which was nearly 10 killometer away from the university main campus. This was the best accomodation for the new comers to stay, because all ammenities in a range of tem killometer you do not need to rush over things.

This country taught me a lot about how to thrive in the fast pace environment especially, work- life balance an imperative thing to do in life, I did a part time job with my studies which was a daunting task for me to maintain an equilibrium in personal and professional life. However, with the help of inhabitants of Canda this was possible to attain because they always motivated me to better

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.5

You make a relevant start by identifying Edmonton, Canada, and mentioning your studies, accommodation, and experience balancing a part-time job with university work. However, the task is only minimally addressed overall: the place of study is not stated clearly as a university or institution, and the description of what you learnt about Canada remains general, focusing mainly on work–life balance and residents’ encouragement. Most importantly, the explanation of how the year abroad helped your studies is not completed; the response ends mid-thought at “motivated me to better” and does not explain an academic benefit. Develop each requested point with specific details, especially how the experience improved your knowledge, skills, or performance in your course, and finish the letter with an appropriate closing.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The response has a recognisable letter opening and moves from your location to observations about the country, so the reader can identify the broad topics. However, the progression is not sustained: the first paragraph combines the course, university, accommodation, and amenities in a long sequence, while the second shifts to work–life balance and then stops before completing the idea. Linking phrases such as “However” show an attempt to connect points, but the relationship between some ideas is unclear, and the unfinished final sentence disrupts the overall flow. Use separate paragraphs for the three requested points, make each paragraph develop one main idea, and add a clear ending.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You attempt a range of vocabulary, including “invaluable experience,” “thrive,” “daunting task,” and “maintain an equilibrium,” which shows an effort to express more than basic ideas. Some choices are not natural or precise in context, however: “same university Canada, Edmonton” is awkward, “all amenities in a range of ten kilometres” is unclear, and “inhabitants of Canada” sounds less natural than a simpler reference to local people. There are also noticeable spelling errors, including “killometer,” “accomodation,” “ammenities,” and “Canda.” Choose collocations that fit the intended meaning and check spelling carefully; accurate, natural wording will make your message easier to follow.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, for example the sentence beginning “This country taught me a lot about how to thrive…” and the contrast introduced by “However.” However, complex sentences are often faulty or difficult to follow, and errors occur frequently enough to affect clarity. In “I was thrilled when I get to know,” the tense should be consistent; “the same university Canada, Edmonton” lacks a clear grammatical relationship between the place and institution; and “all amenities … you do not need to rush” joins ideas without a clear structure. The final sentence is also incomplete. Practise building shorter, complete sentences first, then connect them with accurate clauses and punctuation.

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