Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-10-04

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 Maya,

I hope you and your family members are in good spirits! I heard from your brother, Max, that your course consists of an international year and that you are considering going to Singapore. I can certainly guide you for this experience that you will have.

Let me tell you about my college. I studied at Coleman College, which was renowned for Hospitality courses. Mostly, we had practical classes on guest experience and some information about wine. Moreover, throughout the year, we studied 10 subjects.

My goal is to become a sommelier, so I need to complete a degree in a country with the most tourist visits; that is why I chose Singapore. I gained international experience and learnt how to work amongst different nationalities; as a result, my organisational, communication, and time management skills improved.

I believe choosing Singapore for an international experience would definitely help you to gain knowledge as well as experience. Do not hesitate to ask about any other information you need.

Best Regards,

Nakul Maria

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The response successfully addresses all parts of the prompt, fulfilling the requirements for a General Training letter. You properly start by addressing Maya, tell her where you studied by mentioning Coleman College in Singapore, describe what you learned about the country and your hospitality classes, and explain how the experience was helpful for your studies. However, some ideas are more fully developed than others. For instance, the description of what you learned about Singapore itself is somewhat brief and blends into your personal career goals rather than deeply exploring the country's cultural or educational environment. To reach a higher level, you would need to extend and support all bullet points with more depth and clarity throughout.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The letter maintains a coherent overall arrangement with a clear, friendly tone appropriate for a letter to a friend's sister. Paragraphing is used logically, separating the introduction, the college details, the career benefits, and the conclusion. Cohesive devices are present, such as 'Moreover', 'so', and 'as a result', which connect your ideas. However, the cohesion sometimes feels a bit mechanical or basic, and referencing could be smoother, especially in transitions between paragraphs. To move further up, you should demonstrate more flexible and seamless linking of ideas without relying heavily on standard transitional markers.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.5

You display an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully attempting less common items such as 'sommelier', 'renowned', and 'organisational'. Your spelling and word choice are generally clear, and minor slips do not impede communication. However, some phrases lack precision or natural collocation, such as saying 'guide you for this experience' instead of 'guide you through this experience'. To achieve a higher band, you need to use a wider range of less common lexical items with greater precision, natural style, and collocation control.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.5

The writing demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing structures like 'I heard from your brother, Max, that...' and 'that is why I chose Singapore.' There are some errors in grammar and punctuation, such as 'course consists of an international year' instead of 'includes an international year', but these errors rarely impede communication and do not obscure your meaning. The majority of your sentences are reasonably constructed. To reach a higher level, you must incorporate a greater variety of complex structures with higher accuracy, producing more frequent error-free sentences.

See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.