Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-09-23

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)

hello dear, i hope that you are doing well, i just recived your letter and i am very glad to hear this that you want to apply abroad for your course subject.

so i an done with my masters in ireland.i had a very beautiful journey though.the teaching system and environment is much better than our own country. teachers are very helpful.they help their every student and they are available for all the time for their students. my research journey was also good my supervisor was very friendly to me and he explained me all the steps and procedures of my research. i completed my thesis and i am just done with my defense and just got my master degree. the education system here is very impressive and my fellows were also helping to me. i would suggest you to come here you will get so good opportunities to explore new things which will improve your quality of education.

i am very happy for you and may you get the opportunity to come abroad to fulfil your degree

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The response covers all three bullet points required by the task prompt. You clearly mention where you studied ('i am done with my masters in ireland'), describe what you learned about the country and its education system ('the teaching system and environment is much better... teachers are very helpful'), and explain why the year abroad was helpful for your studies ('explore new things which will improve your quality of education'). However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited and repetitive in places, placing this response at Band 6. To reach a higher band, the details about your experience and the country should be expanded further with more specific examples or extended explanations, rather than relying on brief, generalised statements.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The letter maintains a coherent overall arrangement and flows reasonably well, but the lack of proper paragraphing and capitalisation significantly detracts from the coherence. The entire body of the letter is written as one large, continuous block of text without proper structural separation. Furthermore, cohesive devices are basic, repetitive, and occasionally mechanical (e.g., relying heavily on 'and', 'so', and 'just'). While the progression of ideas is generally understandable, referencing and logical transitions between sentences lack sophistication. Proper paragraph division and a wider variety of cohesive links are needed for a higher score.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, allowing you to convey your message clearly, but it remains basic and repetitive throughout. Phrases like 'very beautiful journey', 'very friendly', and 'very impressive' demonstrate a limited range. There are also several instances of awkward word choice and collocation, such as 'course subject' instead of 'degree course' or 'major', and 'helping to me' instead of 'helpful to me'. While communication is not impeded, the lack of less common lexical items and stylistic awareness restricts the score to a Band 5.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

Grammatically, the response relies heavily on simple sentences and basic compound structures connected by coordinating conjunctions. There are significant punctuation and capitalisation errors throughout the text; sentences consistently begin with lowercase letters (e.g., 'hello dear', 'i hope', 'so i an done'), and run-on sentences appear due to improper comma usage (e.g., 'research journey was also good my supervisor was very friendly'). Although a few complex structures are attempted, they often contain errors or lack precision. Frequent grammatical and mechanical inaccuracies place this text firmly at Band 5.

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

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