Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · 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 6.5)

Dear Kesha,

I am writing this to share my study abroad experience at Waterloo University in Canada.

Recently, I finished my one year course at Waterloo University. This university is very popular in Canada and it is located in Waterloo city of Ontario. The overall experience was excellent. I learned lots of things about this country. Firstly, this country is very cold so I would strongly recommend you to bring some warm clothes with you if you planning to study here. Secondly, citizens are so friendly and welcoming; therefore, you will never feel like a stranger here. Lastly, Canada has lots of opportunities for the tech professionals.

Apart from that, studying in this country was one of my best decision. It helped me a lot academically. For instance, I improved my english skills. Similarly, I learned advanced software development technologies.

I would highly recommend you to study in this country. Let me know if I could help you more to take this decision.

Take care,

Neel

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

The letter addresses all three points: you identify Waterloo University in Canada, share observations about the cold climate, welcoming people and technology opportunities, and explain that the experience improved your English and software-development knowledge. These details make the response relevant and give it a clear purpose. The account of what you learnt about Canada is the most developed, while the academic benefit is less fully explained: add a specific example of how the new skills or technologies supported your university coursework. The opening and closing suit a friendly letter, though you could make the advice more personal by referring directly to her plans. The response fully meets the core task and shows some development, but a little more explanation would make the ideas more complete.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 7.0

The information follows a clear progression: you introduce your study-abroad experience, describe Canada, explain the academic benefits, and finish with a recommendation. Paragraphing helps distinguish these stages, and signposts such as “Firstly,” “Secondly,” “Lastly,” and “For instance” make the sequence easy to follow. The overall organisation is effective, although the repeated list markers make the description somewhat formulaic. “Apart from that” does not clearly signal the shift from learning about the country to explaining academic benefits; a more precise transition would strengthen the connection. You could also link the examples more explicitly to the advice for Kesha. Overall, the letter is easy to follow, with some room for more flexible and natural cohesion.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

Your vocabulary is adequate for the topic and communicates the main points clearly. Phrases such as “friendly and welcoming,” “academically,” and “software development technologies” help convey your experience, while “strongly recommend” gives the letter an appropriate advisory tone. However, several expressions are broad or slightly unnatural, including “learned lots of things,” “lots of opportunities,” and “help me more to take this decision.” More precise wording would make the account sound more fluent and personal. Also check spelling and capitalisation in “english,” and use a more natural phrase for the university’s location. The range is sufficient for this familiar topic, but greater precision and more natural collocations would strengthen it.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple sentences and some longer structures, including the conditional advice “if you planning to study here” and the result clause “therefore, you will never feel like a stranger here.” Most meanings remain clear, but some grammatical errors are present. In the conditional, write “if you are planning”; in “one of my best decision,” use the plural “decisions.” The sentence “I learned lots of things about this country” is grammatically sound, but the later examples could be joined with more varied structures to demonstrate a broader range. Pay attention to articles and verb forms as you revise. Overall, the grammar supports communication, though more accurate control of these patterns and a wider variety of sentence structures would improve the letter.

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