Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · 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 5.5)
dear, riki
I Am very happy to hear from your sister that you are planning to move in Canasa forther study.It is really good decesion for your future.
I just competed my graduation from mac univercity. All the professor was very hepful and motivated.I face little struggal when i was in the first semester, As I just moved from oue country and I don't know the rules and regulation about the campus. But there r student union who make my throught education year very smoth and easy.A part fom the study i also learnt new language.
there r so many palce that you can visit such as wonderland, African lion safari etc. you also can learn about some diffrent cultur of the canada.its is really amazing expirience to studied there. i competed my medical course from mac univercity which gave me amazing direction for my career.hopefully it works fpr you to.there r so may advance techknology for practical expriment so its really very benificial for our practical knowledge.also there r many students who comes from diffrent countries so you can learn about other countries cultur also.hop you also enjoy your year of the studies which will you spend in near time.all the best for your future
yours friend,
Nrupal
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 6.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0
The response covers all three bullet points required in the task instructions. The student mentions where they studied ('mac univercity'), describes aspects of the country such as places to visit and cultures, and explains how the year abroad helped their studies through practical experience and medical courses. However, the tone and formatting of the letter are slightly informal and somewhat disjointed. The opening greeting 'dear, riki' lacks standard letter conventions and the transition between ideas feels a bit abrupt. The development of ideas is somewhat limited and repetitive in places, fitting a Band 5.5 to 6.0 profile. We will award a Band 6.0 as all parts of the task are addressed with relevant, albeit basic, details.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0
The response shows a basic overall arrangement, but paragraphing is problematic. The entire body of the letter is compressed into a single massive block of text, making it difficult to follow the logical progression from place of study to cultural learnings and academic benefits. Cohesive devices are minimal and sometimes inaccurate, such as 'A part fom the study' and 'also there r'. Referencing is sometimes unclear, with pronouns like 'it' and 'they' lacking precise antecedents. While the letter maintains a coherent message overall, the lack of paragraph breaks and basic cohesive control places this firmly in the Band 5.0 category.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.0
The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting some less common words and phrases such as 'motivation', 'rules and regulation', and 'practical knowledge'. However, there are numerous spelling errors throughout the text, including 'Canasa' for Canada, 'forther' for further, 'decesion', 'mac univercity', 'struggal', 'oqe', 'smoth', 'fom', 'palce', 'diffrent', 'cultur', 'expirience', 'fpr', 'may', 'techknology', 'expriment', and 'benificial'. These spelling mistakes and occasional word-choice issues do not entirely impede communication, but they restrict the lexical score to a Band 5.0 due to the high frequency of errors.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as conditional or relative clauses ('As I just moved from oue country and I don't know...', 'you can learn about other countries cultur also'). However, grammatical accuracy is weak. There are frequent errors in subject-verb agreement ('All the professor was very hepful'), capitalization ('dear, riki', 'Nrupal'), punctuation, and tense consistency. Furthermore, sentence structures are often fragmented or run-on. Because errors are frequent and occasionally cause some difficulty for the reader, this performance aligns with Band 5.0.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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