Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · 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 6.5)

Dear Kirti,

I hope you are doing well! I received your letter asking about my experience during my master's in Canada. I am delighted that you are also going to Canada for one year to study finance and I am happy to tell you about my time over their.

I went to Canada in 2023 to complete my master's in chemical engineering from University of Calgary. I think this was the best experience I ever had in my life as I studied in one of the world's best universities. This institution is located in the city of Calgary and in the southern side of Alberta, Canada.

I learned from best teachers who had years of experience in Chemical engineering. Apart from this, the university has best facilities for students for instance, library, gym, recreational area and sports grounds. I was also doing a part time job at Subway, which helped me covered my expenses. Moreover, I learned time management, better communication and adaptibility during my time over their.

This helped me land a high salary job in India and I have now foreign experience to show in my resume. I think you should definately take this chance as it aid you to become self sufficient. All the best!

Best wishes,

Nitin.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.0

The student has successfully addressed all three bullet points required in the task instructions. First, the writer clearly states where they studied, mentioning the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada. Second, they describe what they learned about the country, highlighting the high-quality education from experienced professors and valuable personal development skills like time management and adaptability. Third, the writer explains how the year abroad was helpful, specifically noting that it helped them secure a high-salary job in India and provided international experience. The tone is appropriate for a semi-formal letter to a friend's sister. All ideas are relevant and adequately supported, fulfilling the Band 7 requirements thoroughly.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 7.0

The letter follows a clear, logical organisation with an appropriate greeting and sign-off. Paragraphing is utilised effectively, with each paragraph focusing on a distinct topic: introduction, study location details, skills and experiences gained, and future benefits. Cohesive devices such as 'Apart from this', 'for instance', and 'Moreover' are used to connect ideas smoothly throughout the text, although occasional minor referencing issues occur, such as the misspelling of 'there' as 'over their'. Overall, the progression of ideas is clear and easy to follow, aligning well with the Band 7 descriptor for logical flow.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

The student demonstrates a sufficient range of vocabulary for the task with some attempts at less common lexical items such as 'recreational area', 'chemical engineering', and 'self-sufficient'. There are a few lexical and spelling inaccuracies, most notably the repetition of 'over their' instead of 'over there', and the spelling error 'definately' instead of 'definitely'. Additionally, 'high salary job' would be more naturally expressed as 'lucrative job' or 'well-paying job'. Despite these minor errors, the vocabulary is adequate to convey the intended meaning clearly, placing this response solidly within the Band 6 territory.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

The writer uses a good mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as 'I am delighted that you are also going to Canada for one year to study finance' and 'This institution is located in the city of Calgary and in the southern side of Alberta, Canada.' There are several grammatical errors present, such as 'helped me covered' instead of 'helped me cover', and minor punctuation or preposition slips like 'master's in chemical engineering from University of Calgary' (missing the article 'the'). However, these errors do not impede communication, and the frequency of error-free sentences supports a Band 6 score.

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