Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-11-11
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 5.5)
Dear sarah,
I WAS GLAD TO RECEIVE YOUR LETTER AND TO HEAR THAT YOU ARE THINKING TO STUDY ABROAD AS A PART OF YOUR UNIVERSITY COURSE. HONESTLY IN MY OPINION DURHAM COLLEGE IN CANADA IS THE BEST. I COMPLETED MY COURSE IN DURHAM COLLEGE THIS COLLEGE PROFESORS ARE HIGHLY EDUCATED ,OFFERS ONE ON ONE STUDENT GOAL MEETING ,BEST PLACEMENT OFFICERS, AND COLLEGE ENVIORMENT IS VERY FRIENDLY.
AS SOON I FINISHED MY COURSE I GOT PLACEMENT WITH ONE OF THE BEST COMPANY THERMOFISHER.ALMOST EVERY STUDENT IN MY COURSE WAS ABLE TO GET PLACEMENT IN THE BEST COMPANIES AND LETTER GOT HIRED. CANADA IS VERY SAFE FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDENT ,PEOPLE HERE ARE VERY FRIENDLY AND HELPFULL. WHILE STUDING I ALSO DID JOB IN LTC AS A RECREATION VOLUNTEER THEY ALSO PAID ME GOOD AND GETTING THE EXPERINCE OF WORKING WITH ELDERLY WAS VERY NICE. I LEARNED ALOT FROM THERE EXPERINCE AND THERE CULTURE.
OVER-ALL DHURAM COLLEGE IS THE BEST PLACE FOR STUDING AS THE OFFER BEST LAB ENVIORNMENT AND FOCUS MORE ON PRACTICAL SKILL THAN THEORITICAL AND GET HANDS ON EXPERIENCE THROUGH PLACEMENT WHICH IS VERY IMPORTANT. WRITE BACK AND LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU DECIDE. ALL THE BEST FOR YOUR FUTURE.
BEST REGARDS,
SUZI
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5
The letter responds to the situation and includes relevant information for all three points: you name Durham College in Canada, describe safety, friendliness and your experience with local work and culture, and explain the practical value of placements and laboratory study. However, the focus is not always clear. Much of the first paragraph recommends the college and lists its services rather than describing your own year abroad. The learning point is also broad—“I learned a lot from their experience and their culture”—without a specific example of what you learned about Canada. Explain more directly how the experience strengthened your university studies, and develop one or two examples. The friendly closing suits the recipient, but a clearer personal account would make the response more complete.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5
There is some organisation: the response moves from the college, to work and life in Canada, and then to the academic benefits and closing. Paragraph breaks help distinguish these topics, and phrases such as “while studying” and “overall” signal transitions. However, the progression is not consistently clear because the letter shifts from recounting your experience to promoting the college, then to employment outcomes for other students. Several ideas are crowded into long sentences, and references such as “there” in “I learned a lot from there experience” are unclear. Use a clearer sequence based on the three requested points, with one main focus per paragraph, and connect each example explicitly to your own experience.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.0
You use relevant vocabulary for education and work, including “placement,” “practical skill,” “hands-on experience,” and “international student,” so the reader can understand the general subject. However, the range is limited and several spelling and word-choice errors make the letter less clear or natural, such as “enviornment,” “profesors,” “studing,” and “helpfull.” Some phrases are also awkward or imprecise: “student goal meeting” and “they also paid me good” do not express the intended meaning naturally. Choose accurate collocations and check spelling carefully. More precise language for cultural learning and academic development would also help you describe the experience rather than relying mainly on general praise.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0
The response attempts to combine ideas in longer sentences, for example when listing the college’s facilities and describing your work experience, but these structures are often difficult to follow. Errors occur frequently in verb forms, articles, agreement and sentence boundaries: “thinking to study” needs a different verb pattern, “I completed my course in Durham College this college…” joins two sentences incorrectly, and “Canada is very safe for international student” has a number error. Capitalisation and punctuation are also inconsistent, including the all-capital paragraphs and missing spaces after commas. Practise writing shorter, complete sentences first, then add subordinate clauses accurately. Review verb patterns, articles and plural forms, and use standard sentence case and punctuation.
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