Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 6.0 · 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 6.0)
Dear Ellie,
I hope you are well. I am writing about my experience study in abroad.
last year in August 2025, I went to Paris which is located in Europe for my fashion designing master degree course. However, I spent my year abroad studying at Paris University Where i learned culture and traditions about their fashion lifestyles. Moreover, it was a very interesting experience to learn different education systems,Food and public transportation. Most importantly, the experience was extremely beneficial to my studies because i gained my Confidence and improved my communication skills and also j explore whole city in leisure time and weekends for learn something new about my course and meet new designers and also companies who were related to my course.
I would definitely recommend spending a year abroad if you have the opportunity. I’m sure you’ll have a wonderful experience. Let me know if you have any other questions.
Best wishes,
Maitri
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 6.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 6.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5
The response addresses all parts of the prompt well. You successfully identified where you studied by mentioning Paris and Paris University for your fashion designing master's degree course. You also described what you learned about the country, specifically noting its culture, traditions, fashion lifestyles, and public transportation. Furthermore, you explained how the year abroad helped your studies by gaining confidence, improving communication skills, and exploring the city to meet new designers and companies. The tone is appropriate for a letter to a friend's sister, and all bullet points from the instructions are covered adequately, earning a solid band score for this criterion.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0
The letter maintains a clear overall arrangement and follows an appropriate structure for a personal letter, beginning with a standard greeting and ending with a sign-off. Cohesive devices such as 'However', 'Moreover', and 'Most importantly' are used to connect ideas, although some transitions feel a bit mechanical. Paragraphing is used, though the main body paragraph is quite dense and could have been broken down into smaller sections to improve readability. Referencing is generally clear, but occasional clunky sentence transitions slightly disrupt the overall flow, placing this text firmly at the band 6.0 level.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, with some attempts at less common and subject-specific vocabulary such as 'fashion designing master degree course' and 'public transportation'. However, there are notable word choice and phrasing issues, such as writing 'study in abroad' instead of 'studying abroad' and lowercase letters at the beginning of sentences (e.g., 'last year', 'Where i learned', 'j explore'). While the meaning remains clear throughout, these lexical and mechanical inaccuracies prevent the score from rising higher.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
You attempted a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as using subordinate clauses introduced by 'because' and 'which'. However, there are several grammatical and punctuation errors throughout the text. Examples include lowercase capitalization for proper sentences ('last year in August 2025', 'Where i learned', 'Food and public transportation'), missing articles ('for learn something new'), and pronoun capitalization issues ('i gained my Confidence'). These errors occur frequently, though they rarely impede overall communication, which aligns well with the descriptors for band 5.5.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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