Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-09-21
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 5.5)
Dear
I am glad to writing this email to you and I feel very special as you ask me for my experience in abroad. I studied in University Canada West which is located in Vancouver, BC. University.
I learned a lot of new things while studying in Canada. Canada taught me plenty of things which I never know if I was in India. Firstly I learn that always stand in queue no matter you are waiting for transit, for billing or any thing you should be in line and make sure you never break an queue. In addition, you know in my home town I never go outside alone I know you think its funny but for real I never go outside alone, but here i became independent I can go anywhere with confidence and you know what now I can talk in English confidently without lower down my pitch or humbling.
I am registered nurse back in my hometown. here in Canada I opted for the courses which helps me to settle down in Canada before I pursue my career as a Registered Nurse in Canada. I want to enhance my confident, speaking skills and many more. The year abroad is very helpful for my studies as i am capable to do my things by myself with full confident, i can communicate with anyone, I can stand for my valid points or thoughts.
Best wishes,
Gagan Lakhe
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 6.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0
The response successfully covers all the bullet points outlined in the prompt. You mentioned where you studied during your year abroad ('University Canada West which is located in Vancouver, BC'), described what you learned about the country ('always stand in queue', becoming independent, and improving English communication), and explained how the year helped your studies and personal growth ('courses which helps me to settle down', enhancing confidence). The tone is appropriate for a letter to a friend's sister, maintaining a friendly and encouraging register throughout. Although the salutation is slightly incomplete ('Dear'), the overall response satisfies the requirements of a general training task well, showing good task coverage and clear personal reflection. This aligns closely with a Band 6.0.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The letter exhibits a clear overall arrangement with distinct paragraphs separating the introduction, cultural learnings, and academic/professional reflections. You use some cohesive devices such as 'Firstly', 'In addition', and 'back in my hometown' to guide the reader through the text. However, there are instances of faulty referencing and abrupt transitions, such as 'University.' standing alone as a sentence fragment, and some run-on sentences in the second paragraph where ideas are loosely linked with commas rather than full stops or appropriate conjunctions (e.g., 'Canada taught me plenty of things which I never know if I was in India'). Paragraphing is present, but internal cohesion is sometimes mechanical. These features place the response securely at Band 5.5.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The lexical range is adequate for the task, allowing you to communicate your experiences clearly. You make successful attempts at using less common vocabulary, such as 'independent', 'confidence', 'registered nurse', and 'enhance my confident'. However, there are several noticeable word-choice and collocation errors that detract from the overall quality, such as 'I am glad to writing' (should be 'writing' or 'write'), 'ask me for my experience in abroad' (should be 'abroad' without 'in'), and the grammatical form 'enhance my confident' (should be the noun 'confidence'). Additionally, words like 'humbling' are misused in this context (likely meaning hesitating or stumbling over words). These errors place the lexical resource at a Band 5.5.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
You attempt a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, incorporating relative clauses ('which is located in Vancouver', 'which I never know') and conditional structures. However, grammatical accuracy is inconsistent. There are frequent errors in verb tenses, subject-verb agreement, and word forms, such as 'which helps me' (should be 'helped me'), 'I learn that always stand' (should be 'learned to always stand'), 'break an queue' (should be 'a queue'), and 'i am capable to do' (should be 'capable of doing'). Punctuation is also weak, with run-on sentences and a lack of capitalization for the pronoun 'I' in a few places. Because errors are frequent and occasionally cause minor strain for the reader, this merits a Band 5.0.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.