Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-09-28

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 Sadiya,

I hope you are doing well. I am writing to inform you about some of my experience of study abroad. First of all, congratulations on your graduation. I feel very happy for you.

I wanted to let you know that I completed my master's degree at Northeastern University, which is located in downtown Toronto. When I studied there, I learned lots of things. Such as being independent. Canada is a very beautiful country. I will experience a lot.

I am really excited to tell you about exam is not complex as our country. We can learn everything practically. Also, the professor is very helpful and gives you all the materials. Additionally, they give very interesting assignments. So, according to me, this is a plus point of studying abroad. You can earn a lot as well with your studies.

Please let me know if you require any further information.

Best wishes,

Almas

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You successfully covered all parts of the bullet points required in the prompt. You mentioned where you studied ("Northeastern University, which is located in downtown Toronto"), described what you learned about the country ("Canada is a very beautiful country... being independent"), and explained why the year abroad was helpful for your studies (practical learning, helpful professors, and interesting assignments). The tone of the letter is generally friendly and appropriate for corresponding with a friend's sister, matching the requested format. However, your initial greeting includes an inappropriate reference to "congratulations on your graduation" when the prompt specifically stated she is thinking about studying abroad, which slightly misses the contextual nuance of the scenario. Additionally, some ideas like earning money are briefly introduced without full development. Despite these minor lapses, you have adequately addressed the prompt requirements, leading to a solid band score.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The letter maintains a clear overall arrangement and follows a logical letter structure with an appropriate opening and closing ("Dear Sadiya,", "Best wishes, Almas"). Ideas progress reasonably from the greeting to the location of study, and then to academic benefits. However, paragraphing is somewhat disjointed and abrupt. For instance, the transition from your living experience in Canada directly to exams and professors creates a fragmented feel, and sentences are sometimes short and choppy. Cohesive devices are used ("Additionally", "So", "First of all"), but they can feel a bit mechanical or repetitive rather than smoothly integrated. Referencing is mostly clear, but the logical flow between sentences could be tighter to achieve a higher band level.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate vocabulary range for the task, successfully using terms such as "master's degree", "downtown", "independent", and "practically". There are attempts at less common vocabulary, but some word choices and collocations are awkward or inaccurate, such as "experience of study abroad" (should be 'studying abroad' or 'my study abroad experience') and "exam is not complex" (better phrased as 'exams are not as difficult'). Spelling and word-choice errors are present, such as treating "professor" as singular when implying the faculty as a whole ("the professor is very helpful"), but these errors do not impede communication. Overall, the lexical range is sufficient to convey your message clearly, though it remains somewhat basic.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

Your writing displays a mix of simple and some complex sentence forms, such as relative clauses ("Northeastern University, which is located in downtown Toronto"). However, there are frequent grammatical errors and punctuation issues throughout the text. For example, sentence fragments occur, such as starting a sentence with "Such as being independent" and "I will experience a lot" (which uses the wrong tense or modal for a completed past experience). Subject-verb agreement and article usage also show occasional slips, like "exam is not complex". While these errors do not prevent the reader from understanding your overall message, they occur frequently enough to prevent you from reaching a higher band score where error-free sentences dominate.

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