Band 7.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 7.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-09-05

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 7.5)

Dear Amber,

I hope this letter finds you well. I received your letter yesterday afternoon and since then I was eager to provide you with all the necessary information that you will need to make this decisive decision of your life.

Before you make any move, I would like to share my own experience when I went to Canada for completing my Engineering. I visited Canada in late 2023 around the month of September. I studied at SAIT, one of the renowned institutions known for its quality educations that too with expert instructors who have worked in the Industry for several years before getting into the teaching profession. Sounds great, isn't it?

My time at Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT) was extremely fruitful. I learnt the fundamentals of Power Engineering. Specifically the operations and maintenance aspects of power plants and other plants where boilers are run to produce steam, any type of steam. In fact, I managed to get internship during my summer break. Which allowed me to experience there working eco-system.

I firmly support studying abroad for you. My time abroad studying aided my understanding of my field to its deepest. I worked another 10 months as Power Engineer and came back home with extensive knowledge of the field and which is why today I am able to work in the finest organisation of India. I would say my experience studying and working not only helped me professionally but it built me with several other life skills. I made plenty of friends, I learnt whole new language while I was there, my social skills enhanced and overall confidence soared to its maximum potential.

I would highly recommend you to go abroad and study any course of your interest and it will leave you with the best experience of your life that will help you become the best version of yourself.

I hope I cleared your doubts and motivated you to take this decisive endeavour of your life. Please do not hesitate to ask me anything, I will be happy to help you with anything during this expected transition.

Regards,

Subhh

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 8.0

You have successfully addressed all three bullet points in the prompt. You clearly identified your study location (SAIT, Canada), described your learning experience regarding Power Engineering, and explained the professional and personal benefits of your year abroad. The tone is appropriate for a friendly letter, and the ideas are well-developed and relevant to the task. You have maintained a consistent focus throughout the response, ensuring that the reader receives a comprehensive answer to their inquiry. The content is well-structured and fully satisfies the requirements of a General Training Task 1 letter.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.5

The letter is logically organized, with a clear introduction, body paragraphs covering specific points, and a polite closing. Each paragraph has a central theme, which helps the reader follow your narrative easily. You use a variety of cohesive devices such as 'In fact', 'Specifically', and 'which is why' to connect your ideas. While the flow is generally smooth, some transitions between sentences could be slightly more refined to improve the overall cohesion. However, the paragraphing is appropriate and the progression of ideas is logical throughout the text.

Lexical Resource — Band 7.0

You demonstrate a good range of vocabulary, using terms like 'renowned institutions', 'fruitful', 'decisive endeavour', and 'potential'. There are some minor issues with collocation and word choice, such as 'decisive decision' (which is redundant) and 'built me with several other life skills' (which is slightly unnatural). Despite these minor inaccuracies, your vocabulary is sufficient to convey your meaning clearly and effectively. You show an ability to use less common items, which helps to elevate the quality of your writing.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.5

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, which is good. However, there are several grammatical slips, such as 'since then I was eager' (should be 'I have been eager'), 'for completing my Engineering' (should be 'to complete my engineering'), and 'I managed to get internship' (missing an article: 'an internship'). Additionally, 'it built me with' is grammatically awkward. While these errors are noticeable, they do not impede communication. To reach a higher band, focus on consistent verb tense usage and article placement.

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

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