Band 7.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 7.0 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-09-11

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 7.0)

Dear Sana,

I was delighted to hear that you are considering spending time abroad, so I thought I would share some of my experience with you. I had a wonderful time there.

I completed my third year of a software engineering course at Toronto University. Although the course was initially challenging, the professors at the university made the course easier to understand.

Studying abroad taught me a number of valuable lessons. It helped me grow both professionally and personally. I made new foreign friends from a variety of cultural backgrounds. I learnt that Canadian people tend to be punctual and highly focused. In addition, it developed my communication and networking skills. It gave me an opportunity to experience a diverse range of cultures.

The course helped me develop my programming skills, which will be valuable when I look for a new job. The programme provided an opportunity to work on live projects, which significantly increased my confidence. Overall, I would highly recommend considering this course.

Let me know if you have any questions about the course. I would be happy to help. All the best!

Best regards,

Abhishek

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.5

You have successfully addressed all three bullet points in the prompt. You clearly identified the location of your study (Toronto University), described your cultural observations regarding Canadian punctuality and focus, and explained the academic benefits, such as improved programming skills and increased confidence. The tone is appropriate for a letter to a friend's sister, maintaining a helpful and encouraging persona throughout. The response is well-structured and covers all requirements of the task effectively, providing enough detail to satisfy the reader's request for information.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.5

The letter is logically organized with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a closing. Each paragraph focuses on a specific aspect of the prompt, which aids readability. You use cohesive devices such as 'Although', 'In addition', and 'Overall' to link your ideas effectively. The progression of information is smooth, moving from the general experience to specific cultural lessons and finally to academic outcomes. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate distinct topics, making the letter easy to follow.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.5

You demonstrate a good range of vocabulary that is appropriate for the context. Phrases like 'valuable lessons', 'variety of cultural backgrounds', and 'significantly increased my confidence' show a solid command of language. While the vocabulary is accurate and fits the task well, it is generally functional rather than highly sophisticated. To reach a higher band, you could incorporate more precise collocations or idiomatic expressions related to the experience of living abroad, such as 'cultural immersion' or 'broadened my horizons'.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 7.0

Your grammar is generally accurate, and you use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures effectively. For example, the use of subordinate clauses in 'Although the course was initially challenging, the professors...' demonstrates good control. There are very few errors, and those that exist do not impede communication. The punctuation is correct throughout the letter. To improve further, you could experiment with a wider variety of complex structures, such as using more passive voice constructions or conditional sentences to express hypothetical advice.

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

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