Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-09-29

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 Sarah,

I hope you are doing well. I get to know that you need assistance regarding the same course which you have applied and got selected in it. I had arrived two months ago after completing that course and my experience went really well.

I am writing to let you know that I had applied for the YES exchange program in the US. I was there since one year and I really got a chance to learn many things related to academics as well as professional life.

Let me tell you one thing I learnt which is very important is communication and cognitive skills which I never used to have when I was living in my parent country. Along with that I had gained enough confidence within this year.

Furthermore, in this course there were many practical and internship opportunities which I believe plays a very imperative role in student's lives.

Hope you have a good time, take care.

With love

Kashi

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

The response covers all parts of the prompt adequately. You successfully addressed the sister by telling her where you studied by stating, 'I had applied for the YES exchange program in the US.' You also described what you learned, mentioning 'communication and cognitive skills' and gaining confidence. Furthermore, you explained why your year abroad was helpful for your studies by highlighting the practical and internship opportunities that play an imperative role in student lives. The tone is appropriate for an informal letter to a friend's sister, and the purpose of the communication is clear throughout. Although some points could be expanded with more specific detail to reach higher band levels, all three bullet points from the instructions are clearly addressed.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The letter maintains a coherent overall arrangement with a clear opening ('Dear Sarah,') and closing. Ideas are generally grouped logically into paragraphs, moving from an introduction to your location, followed by skills learned, and finally the benefits to your studies. However, the progression between some sentences feels slightly mechanical. For instance, the transition 'Let me tell you one thing I learnt which is very important is...' is awkward and disrupts the natural flow of ideas. Cohesive devices are used, but referencing is sometimes unclear, such as 'regarding the same course which you have applied and got selected in it.' Paragraphing is present, but more purposeful linking would improve the overall cohesion.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, but lacks flexibility and precision. You successfully used some appropriate general terms such as 'academic,' 'professional life,' 'practical,' and 'internship opportunities.' However, there are noticeable word choice and collocation errors that prevent a higher score. For example, 'I get to know that you need assistance' should be 'I understand that you need help' or 'I heard that you are thinking about,' and 'parent country' should be 'home country.' Furthermore, 'I was there since one year' contains a tense and preposition error. While communication is never impeded, the range of vocabulary remains somewhat limited and repetitive.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The response demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, but control over grammar is inconsistent. There are several grammatical errors that catch the reader's attention. For example, 'I get to know that you need assistance regarding the same course which you have applied and got selected in it' contains awkward relative clause handling and an unnecessary preposition at the end. Another error is 'I was there since one year,' where 'for' should replace 'since' given the duration. Additionally, 'plays a very imperative role' features a subject-verb agreement error, as 'opportunities' is plural and requires 'play'. Punctuation is generally acceptable, but frequent minor errors limit the score to a 5.5.

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