Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-09-22

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 Sita,

I hope you are doing well. I am writing this letter because I heard that you are going to abroad to study for one year as a part of your course.

To begin with, I am happy to share with you that for my one year study, I went to University of Canada West which is located in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Furthermore, I like to say something about this city as it is one of the most beautiful city of Canada which is surrounded by hills. The best thing I learned about this city is that people are very humble, well disciplined, and very helpful.

Finally, it was very helpful to study here because a professor of this university was highly qualified, and the students of my class were from different countries where I get a chance to learn in a different ways. For example, the way of teaching and thinking to solve the problems was different from ours which surprised me . There technique of learning and solving the problem was quite unique which helps me in future.

I hope you understand what I mean to say.

Best wishes,

Nikesh Yadav

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

The candidate successfully addresses all three bullet points required in the task instructions. First, the location of the study abroad year is clearly stated, mentioning the University of Canada West in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Second, the response describes what was learned about the country, specifically highlighting the natural beauty of the city surrounded by hills and the positive traits of the local people, who are described as humble, well-disciplined, and helpful. Finally, the letter explains how the year abroad was helpful for university studies by detailing the high qualifications of the professors and the diverse international peer group, which exposed the writer to unique teaching styles and problem-solving techniques. The tone is appropriate for a friendly letter, and all parts of the prompt are fully covered. Therefore, the task achievement meets the criteria for Band 7.0.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The letter maintains a clear overall progression and logical organization from the opening greeting to the final sign-off. The student effectively uses transitional phrases such as 'To begin with', 'Furthermore', and 'Finally' to structure the response and guide the reader smoothly through the points. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate different ideas, such as the location, the cultural observations, and the academic benefits. However, referencing is occasionally repetitive or slightly unnatural, such as repeating 'this city' and 'this university' closely together, which keeps the score at a solid Band 6.5. Despite minor mechanical cohesive devices, the overall message is easy to follow and logically sequenced throughout.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The student demonstrates an adequate lexical range for the task. Common vocabulary is used accurately, and there are some attempts at less common phrasing such as 'highly qualified', 'well disciplined', and 'unique techniques'. However, there are a few noticeable word choice and collocation inaccuracies, such as 'going to abroad' instead of 'going abroad', and 'one of the most beautiful city' instead of the plural 'cities'. Additionally, phrases like 'the way of teaching and thinking to solve the problems was different' are somewhat simplistic and repetitive. While these lexical errors do not impede communication, they reflect the characteristics of a Band 6.0 performance.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The response exhibits a mix of simple and complex sentence forms. The student successfully constructs multi-clause sentences, such as 'To begin with, I am happy to share with you that for my one year study, I went to University of Canada West which is located in Vancouver...' However, there are several grammatical errors scattered throughout the text. Examples include 'going to abroad' (unnecessary preposition and article), 'one of the most beautiful city' (singular noun after plural quantifier), and pronoun/determiner friction such as 'There technique' instead of 'Their technique'. Punctuation is generally acceptable, but subject-verb agreement and article usage show recurring flaws. Because simple sentences are usually error-free while complex structures contain occasional errors that rarely impede communication, a Band 6.0 is appropriate.

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.