Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · 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 6.0)

Dear sister,

Hello ! How are you ? I hope you are doing great. I am writing this letter about your interest in study overseas, I am done with course over there in the same university in which you wants to go.

When I was there, I studied in business management for a year. It was a great experience and opportunity for me as a part of that institution.

As you know, it’s hard to manage everything abroad on your own such as financially as well as emotionally. But, I got nice experiences there how to survive, if you are alone especially. It not only teaches us about the education but also improve skills in other related fields by providing us opportunities to do some jobs there.

Last year was really good for me because getting the certification from there is not easy for everyone especially for the individuals from Punjab.it was really a pride moment for me to finish my studies in canada. After coming back from there,I started my own business here that generates income for me and to support family.

Your loving brother,

Amish.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

You have addressed all three bullet points in the prompt: you mentioned studying in Canada, described the experience of living abroad, and explained how it helped your career. However, the development of these points is somewhat limited. For example, you mention learning to survive financially and emotionally, but you could have provided more specific details about the country itself, such as the culture or environment, to fully satisfy the second bullet point. The tone is generally appropriate for a letter to a friend's sister, though the opening 'Dear sister' is slightly unusual given the prompt asks you to write to your friend's sister, implying you should use her name.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The letter is organised into logical paragraphs, which helps the reader follow your ideas. You use some basic cohesive devices such as 'When I was there' and 'After coming back'. However, the flow between sentences is sometimes mechanical, and the use of linking words could be more varied to improve the natural progression of your argument. For instance, the transition between the challenges of living abroad and the benefits of your studies could be smoother. Paragraphing is present, but the structure within the paragraphs could be more cohesive to better connect your personal experience to the advice you are offering.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

Your vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, allowing you to communicate your experiences clearly. You use some relevant terms like 'business management', 'certification', and 'opportunity'. However, there are some inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'pride moment' instead of 'proud moment' and 'study overseas' instead of 'studying overseas'. To reach a higher band, you should aim to use more precise vocabulary and avoid repetitive phrasing. The range is sufficient to convey your meaning, but it lacks the flexibility and sophistication required for a higher score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

You demonstrate a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While your meaning is generally clear, there are frequent grammatical errors, such as 'in which you wants to go' (subject-verb agreement), 'it not only teaches us... but also improve' (parallelism), and punctuation issues like missing spaces before commas and periods. These errors are noticeable but do not significantly impede communication. To improve, focus on subject-verb agreement, consistent verb tenses, and correct punctuation. Increasing the variety of complex sentence structures while ensuring they are error-free will help you achieve a higher band score.

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

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