Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-09-25

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 Anna,

My friend mentioned me that you are planning to study abroad as part of your university course after finishing your bachelor's degree. Honestly I am excited to see you pursuing this and guide you regarding the same.

Last year I studied Msc Hotel and Tourism Management from Oxford Brookes University from Oxford, United Kingdom. I chose this university since the courses were aligning with my future aspects. I studied Revenue Management, Managing Culture across people which helps me alot during recent times. University helped me in personal and professional life as well, on-campus placements, guidance toward communication skills and many more.

These studies helped me in describing my ideas and thoughts to my team where I currently work. I made lot of connections through my university and faculties give perfect and right advise all the time.

I am eager to see you shining abroad and chosing the right university for your future. If you need any guidance regarding the same, do call me.

See you soon.

Saurabh

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.0

The candidate has fully addressed all parts of the task prompt in a natural and appropriate tone for a friendly letter. The response successfully covers where the writer studied (Oxford Brookes University, United Kingdom), what they learnt about the country and their course (such as Revenue Management and cultural adaptation), and explains how the year abroad helped their studies and current work environment (improving communication skills and building connections). The ideas are well-developed and relevant, creating a clear and purposeful response that meets the required format and communicative goals. The tone remains encouraging and consistent throughout, corresponding well to the Band 7 level descriptors.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The letter exhibits a clear logical progression and overall arrangement, moving smoothly from opening greetings and context setting to specific details about the university experience, and finally to closing well-wishes. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate distinct ideas, such as course details in the second paragraph and professional impacts in the third. Cohesive devices are generally used effectively, although some transitions are slightly mechanical, such as 'These studies helped me' or 'University helped me'. Referencing is mostly clear, though occasional minor slip-ups in cohesion prevent it from reaching a higher band. Overall, the message flows well and is easy to follow.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

The student demonstrates an adequate to good range of vocabulary suited to the context of university studies and professional life, using terms like 'bachelor's degree', 'Revenue Management', and 'on-campus placements'. However, there are some inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'My friend mentioned me that' instead of 'told me', and 'future aspects' instead of 'future prospects'. Despite these minor lexical lapses, the vocabulary is sufficient to convey the intended meaning clearly without impeding the reader's understanding, aligning closely with the criteria for Band 6.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

The writing includes a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating attempts at varied structures such as 'I chose this university since the courses were aligning with my future aspects.' There are several grammatical errors and awkward phrasing choices, including missing articles ('faculties give perfect and right advise all the time' instead of 'the faculty gives') and preposition misuse ('guidance toward communication skills'). Punctuation is generally acceptable, and while errors are present, they rarely impede communication, allowing the reader to grasp the core message easily. This balance of mixed structures and manageable errors places the performance firmly in the Band 6.0 category.

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.