Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-09-14

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 Alex,

I hope you are doing well. I am very pleased to hear that you are considering a year studing abroad. Well, I completed my study from Trent University, Canada, last year. Don't worry I guide you as much I can.

Canada is very vibrant and cultural country. The city is beautiful and the people there are very kind in nature. As an immigrant we have to learn time managment because you have work as a part-time worker and complete your assignments in time. During your free time you can enjoy downtown area for example pubs and bars.

My studies at abroad is greatly impact on me. Now I can speak very condidently around many people. Thanks to tons of activities conduct by our unviersity. Some elective course also gave us significant practical knowlegde that we can use in real world or in job selection.

I hope you as well find your desire university and for that best of luck.

Kind regards,

Avi

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The candidate has successfully addressed all the bullet points outlined in the prompt. The letter correctly identifies where the writer studied ('Trent University, Canada'), describes what was learned about the country, highlighting features such as a 'vibrant and cultural country' and the importance of 'time management', and explains how the year abroad was helpful for studies by boosting confidence and offering practical knowledge. The tone is appropriately informal and friendly throughout, matching the requirements of a general training task. Ideas are relevant and developed sufficiently to meet the communicative goals of the task. Overall, the response fulfills all the task requirements satisfactorily, placing it comfortably in Band 6.5 to 7.0 for this criterion.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The letter exhibits a clear overall logical organization with an appropriate opening and closing. Paragraphing is used to separate different themes, such as the introduction and university details in the first paragraph, cultural observations in the second, and academic benefits in the third. However, cohesion at the sentence level is occasionally mechanical or lacks smooth transitional links, as seen in transitions like 'Well, I completed...' and 'As an immigrant we have to...'. Referencing is generally clear, but some abrupt shifts between sentences prevent a completely fluid progression. Overall, the structural framework is coherent, supporting an easy read, which aligns well with the Band 6.0 descriptors.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The student displays an adequate vocabulary range for the task, successfully using terms like 'vibrant', 'immigrant', 'elective course', and 'significant practical knowledge'. However, there are noticeable spelling and word choice errors throughout the text, such as 'studing' instead of studying, 'managment' instead of management, 'condidently' instead of confidently, 'conduct' instead of conducted, and 'knowlegde' instead of knowledge. Furthermore, collocation is sometimes awkward, such as 'completed my study from'. While these errors do not impede overall communication, their frequency prevents the score from reaching a higher band. The lexical resource is sufficient to convey the intended meaning, justifying a Band 6.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating some control over grammar with structures like 'As an immigrant we have to learn time management because you have work...' and 'Some elective course also gave us significant practical knowledge that we can use...'. However, there are several grammatical errors and omissions, including missing prepositions or auxiliary verbs ('you have work', 'My studies at abroad is greatly impact', 'activities conduct', 'find your desire university'). Punctuation is generally acceptable, but subject-verb agreement and tense consistency occasionally falter. These errors do not seriously impede understanding, but they occur frequently enough to typify the Band 6.0 descriptor, where errors persist even though communication is maintained.

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

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