Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-09-16
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 Sister,
I have heard you are wanting to go abroad for your university course. It is a difficult but very rewarding to travel even if it is for studies.
When I first came to Canada, I arrived at Calgary as my University was in Calgary. It can be challenging to navigate around by yourself, therefore, I would recommend attending orientations even if they are online. Canada is a very diverse and beautiful with different mountains, lakes, and natural beauty. Although it can be very cold with low temperatures during winter, it is a rather great experience.
When I was studying I did do most of the readings and tasks right away. Online resources like youtube can be really helpful in understanding course material. There are also study groups which are excellent resource for peer learning. I am excited for you to experience it. Feel free to reach out with any enquiries.
Kind Regards,
M
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 7.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 7.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 6.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 6.0 |
| Overall | 6.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0
You successfully covered all parts of the prompt in your letter. You mentioned where you studied by writing 'When I first came to Canada, I arrived at Calgary as my University was in Calgary.' You also described what you learnt about the country, noting that 'Canada is a very diverse and beautiful with different mountains, lakes, and natural beauty' alongside the challenging winter weather. Finally, you explained how the year abroad helped your studies by discussing proactive habits, online resources, and study groups. The tone is appropriately friendly and conversational for a general training letter, maintaining the required purpose throughout.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0
Your letter is logically organised with a clear beginning, middle, and end, and you used paragraphing effectively to separate different themes like location, country description, and study advice. Cohesive devices are used adequately, such as 'When I first came', 'therefore', and 'Although it can be very cold', which help guide the reader smoothly through your thoughts. Referencing is generally clear, though paragraph transitions could occasionally be smoother to achieve a higher band. Overall, the flow is natural and easy to follow.
Lexical Resource — Band 6.0
You demonstrated an adequate range of vocabulary for this task, successfully using functional terms like 'rewarding', 'navigate', 'diverse', and 'enquiries'. However, there are some minor lexical and grammatical slips in word choice and phrasing, such as 'very rewarding to travel' missing a noun, and writing 'a very diverse and beautiful with different mountains' where an extra word 'place' or noun is missing. Despite these occasional inaccuracies, your vocabulary is sufficient to convey your meaning clearly and appropriately.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0
You successfully utilised a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, incorporating clauses with 'although', 'even if', and 'therefore'. There are a few noticeable grammatical errors, such as 'you are wanting' (stative verbs are typically not used in continuous forms in this context) and the missing noun after 'beautiful' in your description of Canada. Punctuation is generally controlled, and these minor errors do not impede communication. The majority of your sentences are clear and structured adequately.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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