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 Fatima,

I hope this letter finds you well. First of all congratulations on getting selected for the US exchange program. I am very happy for you. I am writing to share my experience with you and tell you some things that might help you get an overall idea of this program.

I was given a choice between two univeristies in Ohio state. After my thorough research, I chose Ohio univeristy to complete my course abroad. My experience was amazing.

The faculty of the university helpful. They have highly qualified professors and many societies for students to join. My majors were media studies and business development during the semesters I got to studied there.

The US is a beautiful country, I got to travel to 3 different states including, Maryland, New york and Chicago. People there were really kind and sweet. The environement was very clean and there were a number of places to have fun at.

This experience not only gave me a chance to interact with students from all around the world, but also taught me the strategies related to my coursework that proved to be very beneficial for me final thesis.

I would suggest you to search about the courses you are interested in studying and then choose the university on the basis of that.

I hope you have a great time there and spend the most wonderful days of your life. If you need any assisstance, I'm always a call away.

Best of luck and safe travels!

Best

Noor

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The response effectively covers all bullet points required by the prompt. You successfully mention where you studied ('Ohio univeristy'), describe what you learnt about the country (travelling to three different states and experiencing kind people and a clean environment), and explain why the year abroad was helpful for your studies ('proved to be very beneficial for me final thesis'). The tone is appropriately friendly and conversational for a letter to a friend's sister. The ideas are relevant and adequately developed throughout the letter. The greeting is appropriate, and all necessary parts of the task are addressed, fulfilling the requirements for a Band 7.0 performance.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The letter has a clear logical organisation and progression. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate different topics, such as the choice of university, descriptions of the faculty, details about the US, and the academic benefits. Cohesive devices are generally used well, though some transitions could be smoother. For example, moving from the faculty description to the US description feels a bit abrupt ('The US is a beautiful country...'). Pronoun referencing and referencing words like 'there' and 'this experience' help maintain the flow of ideas, aligning well with the Band 7 descriptors.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate a sufficient range of vocabulary for the task with some attempts at less common items, such as 'thorough research', 'business development', and 'beneficial'. There are a few spelling and word choice errors, such as 'univeristies' and 'univeristy' (misspellings), 'Ohio state' (should be Ohio State), and a minor grammatical slip in 'me final thesis' (my final thesis). However, these vocabulary and spelling errors do not impede communication, and the overall range is adequate to merit a Band 6.5.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as conditional and relative clauses ('I was given a choice between two universities...', 'This experience not only gave me a chance to interact with students...'). There are some minor grammatical errors, such as 'The faculty of the university helpful' (missing verb 'were/are') and 'I got to studied there' (incorrect verb form 'study'). Despite these errors, the majority of sentences are clear and your punctuation and overall sentence structure allow for smooth communication, placing your grammar score comfortably at Band 6.5.

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

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