Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-09-18

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 Michelle,

I hope this email finds you in radiant heath. I recently got a letter from Netu and she mentioned that you are going to Canada for your diploma in Health Sciences in Sault College, Toronto campus. Even i did the same course in Seneca college located in Toronto, Ontario.

I would say i learnt alot from Canada. It made me independent. I was so reliant on my mother before going to Canada but after going there, I learnt everything with the time. Moreover, it taught me why communication skills are so important. while communicating with different people everyday, i polished my foreign language as well.

I could have done that course from online batch while staying in india but I went to Canada and that year brought a drastic change in my life becuase i could easily communicate with my professors regarding doubts and that course included the practical sessions as well. If you have any concerns regarding that course , feel free to contact me.

Yours faithfully,

Neha

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

The response covers all three bullet points required by the prompt effectively. You clearly mention where you studied ('Seneca college located in Toronto, Ontario'), describe what you learned about the country ('It made me independent... taught me why communication skills are so important'), and explain why the year abroad was helpful for your studies ('i could easily communicate with my professors regarding doubts and that course included the practical sessions as well'). The tone is generally appropriate for a letter to a friend's sister, although the closing 'Yours faithfully' is slightly too formal for this relationship (which usually calls for 'Best wishes' or 'Warmly'). However, all parts of the task are well-addressed with relevant ideas, earning a solid band score for this criterion.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The letter exhibits a clear overall progression. Ideas are organized into distinct paragraphs corresponding roughly to an introduction, body, and conclusion. Cohesive devices such as 'Moreover', 'while', and 'because' are used to connect sentences and ideas, although some referencing is slightly clumsy, such as starting sentences with lowercase letters ('Even i did', 'while communicating'). Paragraphing could be structured more cleanly, but the logical flow is easy to follow throughout, allowing the reader to understand your experiences and points without difficulty. This aligns well with the requirements for a Band 6.5 or 7.0, and we award a 6.5 for minor mechanical issues in cohesion and formatting.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully incorporating terms like 'independent', 'communication skills', 'drastic change', and 'practical sessions'. However, there are some noticeable vocabulary and spelling inaccuracies, such as 'radiant heath' (instead of health), 'alot' (should be 'a lot'), and lowercase pronoun usage ('i'). You also attempt less common phrases, but minor slips in word choice and spelling prevent the response from achieving a higher band. Overall, your lexical resource is sufficient to convey your meaning clearly, fitting the Band 6 descriptor well.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The response features a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as conditional structures ('If you have any concerns regarding that course, feel free to contact me') and subordinate clauses ('while communicating with different people everyday'). There are several grammatical and punctuation errors throughout the text, including capitalization mistakes ('Even i did', 'india', 'becuase'), spelling errors, and a missing comma splice in places. Despite these errors, they rarely impede communication, and your meaning remains clear. You demonstrate good control over basic structures and attempt some complex ones, supporting a Band 6 score.

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

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