Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-09-17

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 Zia,

I hope you are doing well. This is regarding the foreign exchange course you are interested in I would love to share my experience with similar course.

I spent a year in 2023 in Germany for a capstone project. The project consists of artificial intelligence applications. Germany was an encouraging students from other parts of the world to share their acknowledge about it and gain you from living there for sometime.

During this year, I learned various things about the country since the major cities here were building sustainable projects many professionals prefer to commute by bicycles rather than taking vehicles like cars or trains. The local community is very friendly and open to include international students in different activities like volunteering and hiking.

Apart from the country participating in educational institution there was significant for my studies. I was able to cover extra credits, which is useful for my highest studies. I learnt new language and obtain knowledge about the AI policies there.

I hope this was helpful for you. Good luck with your decision on studying abroad.

Regards,

DP

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The response successfully covers all three bullet points required by the prompt. You clearly state where you studied, mentioning Germany in 2023 for a capstone project. You describe what you learned about the country, specifically highlighting sustainable projects like bicycle commuting and the friendly local community. Furthermore, you explain how the year abroad helped your studies by allowing you to cover extra credits and gain knowledge about AI policies. All parts of the task are addressed, and the tone is appropriately friendly and conversational for a letter to a friend's sister. The ideas are relevant and generally well-developed, fitting comfortably into the Band 6 or 7 range.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The letter is logically organised with a clear beginning, middle paragraphs addressing each prompt requirement, and a polite sign-off. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate different points, such as the location details, cultural observations, and academic benefits. Cohesive devices are present, for instance, phrases like 'During this year' and 'Apart from the country participating', although some referencing and transitions feel slightly mechanical or awkward, such as 'This is regarding the foreign exchange course you are interested in I would love to share my experience with similar course.' Overall, the structure is coherent and easy to follow, supporting a smooth progression of ideas.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

You demonstrate an adequate vocabulary range suitable for the task, attempting words such as 'capstone project', 'sustainable projects', and 'international students'. However, there are noticeable lexical inaccuracies and awkward word choices, such as 'share their acknowledge about it', 'gain you from living there', and 'highest studies' instead of 'higher studies'. These errors occasionally cause slight confusion for the reader, but they do not completely impede communication. To reach a higher band score, focus on precise collocations and ensure that derived forms of words, such as nouns and verbs, are used correctly in context.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The response features a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as relative clauses and conditional-style setups. There are, however, several grammatical and punctuation errors throughout the text. Examples include missing articles or prepositions ('Germany was an encouraging students', 'The project consists of artificial intelligence applications' in past context), run-on sentences ('interested in I would love'), and minor tense inconsistencies. While these errors do not prevent your overall message from coming across, they occur with enough frequency to keep the grammatical score at the mid-level range.

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

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