Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-09-13
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 5.5)
Dear Sunita,
Hoping this letter finds you in radiant health and the best spirits. My friend Drashti told me that you are going to Canada for your University exchange program.
last year I had completed my master in microbiology. During my M.sc I get the opportunity to studied in MC Gill University Canada. That was amazing experience of my career. I get the chance to learn hands-on training with senior researchers and scientist.
Canada is the best county for researcher and applied biology field. Canadian government provides wide range of opportunity for healthcare sectors students and workers. however, Canada is the best for beginners and students.
After completed my study in Canada I get the huge opportunity from "GSBTM" as post of junior reseach scientist. I kindly suggest you to please get the opportunity to study abroad it would be really helpful for your career and professional goals.
your truly,
Krupa
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 6.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0
The response successfully covers all bullet points required by the prompt. You mentioned where you studied by writing, 'During my M.sc I get the opportunity to studied in MC Gill University Canada'. You also described aspects of the country, noting that 'Canada is the best county for researcher and applied biology field', and explained how it was helpful for your studies by mentioning that you gained 'hands-on training' and subsequently secured a position as a 'junior reseach scientist'. While the tone is somewhat informal and there are occasional slips in task realisation such as the slight over-generalisation about the country, all parts of the prompt are addressed clearly and relevantly, meeting the expectations for a Band 6.0 descriptor.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0
The letter maintains a coherent overall arrangement and follows a conventional letter structure, starting with an appropriate salutation ('Dear Sunita,') and closing with a sign-off ('your truly, Krupa'). Paragraphing is utilised to separate the introduction, academic experience, country description, and final advice. However, the logical progression is sometimes affected by mechanical transitions and short, disjointed sentences, such as 'Canada is the best county... however, Canada is the best for beginners'. Reference links between sentences are occasionally imprecise, which prevents the response from achieving a higher band. Cohesion is adequate for a Band 6.0.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, attempting some less common subject-specific terms such as 'microbiology', 'exchange program', and 'research scientist'. However, there are notable word choice and spelling errors throughout the text, including 'county' instead of 'country', 'reseach' instead of 'research', and awkward collocations like 'get the huge opportunity'. The word 'get' is heavily overused. These lexical inaccuracies indicate a limitation in precision and control, placing the response firmly at Band 5.5.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
You demonstrate a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as conditional or dependent clauses (e.g., 'My friend Drashti told me that you are going to Canada...'). However, there are frequent grammatical errors, particularly with verb tenses and forms, such as 'last year I had completed', 'opportunity to studied' (instead of 'study'), and 'After completed my study' (instead of 'After completing'). Capitalisation errors also occur, such as 'MC Gill' and 'last year'. These errors occasionally cause difficulty for the reader, aligning the grammar with a Band 5.0 level.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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