Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-09-07

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 Mitali,

I hope you are doing well. I am happy to hear that you are planning to study abroad for university course which I recently did and get to know about my experience.

I studied in the one of the best Physiotherapy college of London for a year. Additionally, this university was famous because their teaching staff is excellent, talented and their way of teaching is quite unique and interesting. Therefore, a number of students want to enrol in this university to pursue their studies.

Actually, during my stay in London, it had such a memorable time experience, particularly because local people were polite, disciplined, respectful, friendly and helpful. Moreover, local cuisine were delicious and I got an opportunity to explore such a stunning tourist locations in London.

By studying in London, it facilitated me to explore rare medical cases, gain in-depth knowledge regarding advanced physiotherapy exercises. As a result, it helped me to improve my productivity and work efficiency. Apart from that, staying away from family taught me to how to earn money for our expenses and responsible for my personal growth.

I hope my suggestions will be helpful to you. Please let me know if you need more information about universities.

Best regards,

Twinkle

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

The letter successfully addresses all three bullet points of the prompt. You clearly identify London as your study location, describe the local culture and people, and explain the academic and personal benefits of the experience. The tone is appropriate for a letter to a friend's sister, maintaining a helpful and encouraging persona throughout. The ideas are relevant and sufficiently developed to meet the requirements of the task. To reach a higher band, ensure that the connection between your studies and the specific benefits is even more explicit, perhaps by providing a concrete example of a medical case or a specific skill gained.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The letter is logically organized with clear paragraphing. Each paragraph focuses on a specific aspect of the prompt, which helps the reader follow your experience easily. You use some cohesive devices such as 'Additionally', 'Moreover', and 'As a result' to link your ideas. However, some transitions feel slightly mechanical, and there are minor issues with referencing, such as 'this university' appearing before the specific name is fully established. Improving the variety of linking words and ensuring smoother transitions between sentences would enhance the flow and elevate the score.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using words like 'productivity', 'efficiency', and 'disciplined'. However, there are some inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'memorable time experience' (redundant) and 'stunning tourist locations' (should be 'stunning tourist attractions'). Additionally, there are minor grammatical errors in word form, such as 'local cuisine were' (should be 'was'). While these errors do not impede communication, they indicate a need for more precise control over collocations and subject-verb agreement to reach a higher band.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, which is appropriate for this task. However, there are several persistent grammatical errors that affect the accuracy of your writing. Examples include 'university course which I recently did' (missing article 'a'), 'Physiotherapy college of London' (should be 'in London'), and 'taught me to how to earn' (incorrect infinitive structure). Furthermore, 'responsible for my personal growth' is a fragment that lacks a verb. While these errors rarely impede the reader's understanding, they occur frequently enough to limit the score. Focus on proofreading for articles, prepositions, and verb patterns.

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

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