Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-09-27

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 Suman,

Hope you are doing great!

I am writing this letter to share my experience about studying abroad. As you know that I completed my diploma course at Lambton College at the North York location. I had a great experience over there.

I learnt a number of things while studying there. The predominant one is cultural diversity. As, in my classroom, we had group work together, and pupils from different backgrounds work together to get good marks. Secondly, I learnt about the hard work that students have to do, such as managing studying and working.

Moreover, I believe that with my overseas learning experience, I will get better job opportunities in MNCs (Multi-National Companies). Also, most industries give first preference to international learners, with handsome salaries. If you have any concerns, please let me know or you can call me anytime.

All the best for your studies abroad.

Your regards,

Gurleen Kaur.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.0

The response successfully covers all three bullet points required in the task instructions. You clearly stated where you studied by mentioning "Lambton College at the North York location." You described what you learnt about the country through cultural diversity and the realities of balancing work and study. Furthermore, you explained how the experience was helpful for your studies and future career prospects, noting that international learners receive strong industry preferences. All parts of the prompt are appropriately addressed with relevant ideas that fit the context of writing to a friend's sister. The tone is suitably informal and friendly throughout, meeting the expectations of a General Training Task 1 letter. Therefore, this performance aligns well with the descriptors for Band 7.0.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The letter demonstrates a clear logical organization and progression from your opening greetings to your closing remarks. You used paragraphs effectively to separate distinct ideas, such as your college location, what you learnt, and the benefits for your future. Cohesive devices like "Secondly," "Moreover," and "Also" are employed to guide the reader through your letter, though referencing is occasionally a bit repetitive. For instance, phrases like "studying there" and "learning experience" are used closely together. Despite these minor limitations in cohesive variety, the overall structure remains coherent and easy to follow, satisfying the criteria for a solid Band 6.5 or 7.0.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

Your vocabulary choice is generally adequate and appropriate for a semi-formal or informal letter. You attempted some less common lexical items and collocations, such as "predominant," "cultural diversity," and "Multi-National Companies." However, there are some minor awkwardness issues, such as saying "pupils from different backgrounds work together" (students is usually preferred over pupils for college age) and "with handsome salaries" (which sounds slightly unnatural in this context). Spelling and word choice errors do not impede communication at all, allowing you to achieve a clear Band 6.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

You demonstrated a reasonable mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as conditional clauses ("If you have any concerns, please let me know...") and relative clauses. There are some minor grammatical errors and awkward phrasing present, such as "As you know that I completed" (which contains an unnecessary 'that') and "pupils from different backgrounds work together to get good marks." However, these errors do not impede overall communication, and the majority of your sentences are easily understandable. Your control of punctuation is generally good, supporting a Band 6.0 performance.

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