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 Shannon,

I hope you're doing well. I was really happy to hear that you're planning to study abroad as part of your university course, just as I did. I'd be happy to share my experience of studying abroad with you.

I studied Web Development at the University of Waterloo in Canada. I chose this particular university because It focus not only on the theory of subjects but also its advanced laboratories help students to work on real-time IT projects.

While studying abroad, I learnt about many different aspects of Canadian culture and lifestyles. In addition, I also got the chance to try their local cuisines which made this experience more surreal.

I believe studying abroad for a year would benefit me in many ways. I was able to experience of a foreign culture and their teaching methods. Apart from that, I built international contacts that would help me in the future to get job opportunities.

I hope this would be helpful for your studying abroad. Please let me know if you need any additional information about what accommodations or transport services are available.

Best regards,

Axay Nayi

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

The candidate successfully covers all parts of the letter prompt. The response appropriately opens with a friendly greeting ('Dear Shannon,') and immediately addresses the three bullet points required in General Training Task 1. First, the writer clearly states where they studied ('the University of Waterloo in Canada'). Second, they describe what was learnt about the country ('Canadian culture and lifestyles' and local cuisines). Third, they explain how the year abroad was helpful for their studies and future prospects, noting exposure to different teaching methods and the opportunity to build international contacts. The tone is consistently polite, friendly, and appropriate for a letter to a friend's sister. All bullet points are fully addressed and supported with relevant details, fulfilling the requirements for a Band 7.0 performance.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The letter exhibits a clear and logical organisation from beginning to end. Each paragraph serves a distinct purpose, moving smoothly from the opening pleasantries and background introduction to cultural learnings, academic benefits, and finally a warm closing offering further help. Cohesive devices such as 'While studying abroad', 'In addition', and 'Apart from that' are used appropriately to guide the reader through the text. Paragraphing is handled well, ensuring each major topic is separated into its own logical block. Although the referencing in the fourth paragraph ('benefit me' instead of you) creates a minor slip in perspective, overall coherence remains strong and logical throughout, aligning well with the Band 7 descriptors.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The student demonstrates a sufficient range of vocabulary appropriate for a semi-formal letter, using terms like 'surreal', 'international contacts', and 'advanced laboratories'. There are attempts to use less common expressions, though some word choices and collocations contain minor inaccuracies. For instance, describing the experience as 'more surreal' is slightly unnatural in this context, and there is a pronoun confusion in the fourth paragraph where the writer says 'benefit me' instead of discussing how it benefited them during their own past studies. Nonetheless, the vocabulary is adequate to convey the message clearly without impeding communication, representing a solid Band 6.0 performance.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The response features a workable mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as relative clauses ('I chose this particular university because...') and participial phrases. However, there are a few noticeable grammatical errors that slightly reduce accuracy. For example, there is a tense and subject-verb agreement slip: 'because It focus not only on...' (should be 'it focuses'). Additionally, in the fourth paragraph, shifting to 'benefit me' creates a tense and pronoun inconsistency since the whole letter reflects on the writer's past year abroad. Despite these errors, punctuation is generally sound and meaning is never obscured, placing this safely in the Band 6.0 range.

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

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