Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-09-12

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 Samantha,

I hope you are doing well. I am writing to share my experience of studying abroad with you.

Recently, I completed my studies in Canada, one of the best countries for higher education, and universities there are known for preparing students to succeed in their careers; it also helps aspirants stand out and gain global recognition.

Moreover, the place itself taught me a lot, from how to handle difficult situations to manage it alone. Not limited to this, it also helped me in personality development, as to build confidence in me and taught me how to react and converse in public.

Finally, I would say the years I spent studying abroad were a couple of the best years, as I learnt a lot during that period; not only from an educational perspective but also adopted realistic knowledge by dealing with people around me.

I suggest you step up and move abroad for your higher studies; you will gain a plethora of real-life experiences.

Best Regards

Harmeet

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

The candidate successfully covers all three bullet points required in the task prompt. First, the letter clearly states where the writer studied ("I completed my studies in Canada"). Second, it describes what was learned about the country, mentioning personal growth, handling difficult situations, and public conversation skills. Finally, it explains how the year abroad helped their studies, noting how universities prepare students for career success and global recognition. The tone is appropriate for writing to a friend's sister, maintaining a friendly and encouraging register throughout. The ideas are relevant and fully developed, meeting the requirements of the task well. Although some points could be elaborated with more specific detail, the overall response fully addresses all aspects of the prompt.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The letter exhibits a clear logical progression from greeting to introducing the topic, sharing specific experiences, and finally offering advice. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate distinct ideas, such as the location of study, the personal learnings, and the concluding recommendation. Cohesive devices are employed to connect sentences, with phrases like 'Moreover', 'Not limited to this', and 'Finally' guiding the reader through the text. However, some referencing is slightly awkward, such as 'how to handle difficult situations to manage it alone', which interrupts the flow of cohesion slightly. Despite minor mechanical issues with cohesion, the overall arrangement is coherent and easy to follow.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The student demonstrates an adequate to good range of vocabulary suitable for a general task. Phrases like 'higher education', 'global recognition', 'personality development', and 'plethora of real-life experiences' show an attempt to use less common lexical items with some awareness of style and collocation. However, there are some noticeable inaccuracies in word choice and phrasing, such as 'adopted realistic knowledge' instead of 'practical experience', and grammatical collocation slips like 'to manage it alone' following 'how to handle difficult situations'. Spelling is generally accurate, and vocabulary errors do not impede communication, placing the response comfortably within the competent band.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The writer uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, including relative clauses and conditional-style advice ('you will gain a plethora...'). There are several good error-free sentences, such as the opening and closing remarks. However, a number of grammatical errors and awkward structures occur throughout the text. For instance, the sentence starting with 'Recently, I completed my studies in Canada...' is a run-on sentence containing multiple clauses strung together with semicolons and conjunctions rather than clean separation. Additionally, there are minor agreement and preposition issues, such as 'universities there are known for preparing' and 'taught me how to react and converse in public'. Communication is not impeded, but errors are frequent enough to prevent a higher score.

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

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