Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-09-26

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 6.0)

Dear Riya,

I hope you are doing well. I am writing this letter to give you insights on the univeristy course which I recently attended.

The last one year in the British Coloumbia District of Canada at the Northwest University was probably the best education that I have received. The people in Canada are very helpful and polite. Winters in British Coloumbia can be very cold, so I would suggest to bring warm clothes. The best part about the course was that it had a 2 week exchange program where we got a chance to visit the university of New York. 2 month paid internships was part of the program so the daily expenses where easily met. I think this course can be very beneficial for your quantitive finance carrer. Also the job prospects after the completion of the course are very promising.

I hope this answered any doubts or queries you had. Hoping to hearing back from you soon.

Yours truly

Siddharth

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

The letter covers all three bullet points required by the prompt. You successfully mention where you studied ('the British Coloumbia District of Canada at the Northwest University'), describe what you learned about the country ('The people in Canada are very helpful and polite. Winters... can be very cold'), and explain why the year abroad was helpful for your studies ('beneficial for your quantitive finance carrer'). All parts of the task are adequately addressed, with relevant ideas presented. However, some points could have been extended further with more elaboration to fully develop the ideas. For instance, the mention of the exchange program and internships is a great addition, but these details are stated rather briefly. Overall, the purpose of the letter is clearly achieved and the tone is appropriate for writing to a friend's sister.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The letter maintains a coherent overall arrangement and follows a logical progression from an introductory greeting to details about the location, cultural observations, academic benefits, and a closing sign-off. Paragraphing is used sufficiently to separate the introduction, the body of details, and the conclusion. However, cohesive devices are somewhat mechanical or limited, as seen in the repetition of simple linking transitions and sentences starting abruptly without smooth integration. For example, sentences like 'Winters in British Coloumbia can be very cold, so I would suggest to bring warm clothes' demonstrate basic cohesion. Referencing and paragraph transitions could be smoother and more sophisticated to achieve a higher band score.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

The response demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully attempting less common items such as 'exchange program', 'paid internships', and 'job prospects'. However, there are notable spelling and word choice errors throughout the text, including 'univeristy' (university), 'Coloumbia' (Columbia), 'quantitive' (quantitative), and 'carrer' (career). Additionally, phrases like 'give you insights on' could be phrased more naturally as 'give you insight into'. Despite these vocabulary and spelling inaccuracies, the meaning remains clear and communication is not impeded.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

The text contains a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as conditional and causative ideas ('I think this course can be very beneficial for your quantitive finance carrer'). There are several grammatical and punctuation errors present, including subject-verb agreement and prepositional issues, such as '2 month paid internships was part of the program' (should be 'were') and 'where easily met' (should be 'were'). Furthermore, there is an awkward phrasing in 'Hoping to hearing back from you soon' (should be 'Hoping to hear'). While these errors occur regularly, they do not impede overall communication and the message is easily understood.

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