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 understand that you need assistance regarding the same course which I have visited abroad earlier. Now you have applied and got selected in it. I had arrived two months ago after completing my 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 for 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 which is very important is communication and cognitive skills. I never used to have when I was living in my home 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 students' lives.
Hope you have a good time. Take care.
With love
Kashi
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 6.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 6.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 6.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5
The response successfully covers all bullet points required by the prompt. You mentioned where you studied by stating that you applied for the YES exchange program in the US. You also described what you learnt about the country, noting insights related to academics and professional life, and explained why the year abroad was helpful by highlighting communication, cognitive skills, and practical internship opportunities. The tone is appropriate for a semi-formal/informal letter to a friend's sister, and the purpose is clear throughout. Although some ideas like communication skills could have been slightly more elaborated, all parts of the task are adequately addressed.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0
The letter follows a logical arrangement with a clear opening and closing, and proper paragraphing to separate different ideas. However, the cohesion between some sentences feels slightly mechanical or abrupt, particularly in phrases like 'Let me tell you one thing which is very important is communication...' where referencing and transitions could be smoother. Cohesive devices are used adequately, such as 'Furthermore', but the overall flow has minor bumps that prevent it from reaching a higher band score.
Lexical Resource: Band 6.0
You use an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, including terms like 'academics', 'professional life', 'cognitive skills', and 'internship opportunities'. There are some unnatural word choices and phrasing, such as 'regarding the same course which I have visited abroad earlier' and 'I had arrived two months ago', which show some limitations in collocation and natural expression. Nevertheless, the meaning remains clear, and the vocabulary is sufficient to convey your main points.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5
The writing demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as 'I understand that you need assistance regarding the same course...' and 'Furthermore, in this course there were many practical and internship opportunities which I believe plays a very imperative role...'. However, there are notable grammatical errors and awkward structures, such as 'which I have visited abroad earlier' and 'I never used to have when I was living', where verb tenses and relative clauses are imprecise. Additionally, subject-verb agreement slips occur, such as 'opportunities which... plays'. These errors occasionally cause slight difficulty for the reader.
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