Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-10-06

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 5.5)

Dear jashan,

I hope you are doing well. I am so excited that you are thinking about studying abroad in university. Therefore, I am writing this letter to you about my experince in abroad, so you can be well-prepared before plan your study.

I completed my one year business diploma from saint thomas university in fredericton, NB Canada. This is one of the best university in that state. However, there are so many requirements to meet in order to get the offer letter from this university, as you are bright in studies and financial strong then you can easily secure your offer letter.

Furthermore, I learnt a plethora of things while staying in canada. There is great value of hardworking and focused inviduals in these type of developed countries because if you are goal oriented and stubborn about your future plans then you can easily get success in canada. So, that is the main thing I observed while I was in canada.

After completed my one year diploma from canada. When I returned to india and applied for jobs, i got number of interviews and job offer letter from multinational companies. This is what I see the main difference after having international degree.

I hope you will consider all these points before take any decision of studying in abroad and i wish you all the best for your future endeavours.

Regards,

Simranjeet kaur

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You address all three requested points: you identify Saint Thomas University in Fredericton, describe your observations about hard work and goal-setting in Canada, and explain that the qualification helped you obtain interviews and job offers after returning to India. The final point is relevant, but its connection to how the year helped your studies is not fully explained; clarify what academic knowledge or skills you gained and how these supported your later study or career. The description of Canada is also quite general, and the advice about admission requirements takes space without directly answering the task. A more personal, specific account of what you experienced would make the letter more complete and developed.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The letter has a clear overall arrangement: an opening, separate paragraphs about the university and Canada, an explanation of the benefit, and a closing. Linking expressions such as “Furthermore” and “After” help signal progression. However, some connections are mechanical or unclear. “Therefore” does not show a clear cause-and-effect relationship between your excitement and the reason for writing, while “After completed…” creates a fragment that interrupts the flow into the next sentence. The paragraph about admission requirements also shifts away from describing your experience. Keep each paragraph focused on one task point and use clearer links between the experience abroad and its academic benefit.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use some relevant vocabulary for the topic, including “business diploma,” “goal oriented,” “international degree,” and “multinational companies.” The attempt to use less common language in “a plethora of things” shows ambition, but it sounds unnatural in this personal letter, and several word choices or collocations are inaccurate, such as “financial strong,” “value of hardworking,” and “get success.” Spelling and capitalization are also inconsistent, including “experince,” “canada,” and “i.” These errors do not prevent the reader from understanding the main message, but they make the language less natural and precise. Prefer straightforward, accurate phrases and check spelling and proper nouns carefully.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentences, for example the conditional sentence beginning “if you are goal oriented…” and the sentence about returning to India and applying for jobs. However, errors occur frequently, and some sentence structures are incomplete or difficult to follow. “Before plan your study” needs a verb form such as “before planning your studies,” while “After completed my one year diploma…” is a fragment and should be joined to the following idea. There are also errors in articles, agreement, and tense, as in “one of the best university” and “I learnt… while staying.” Work on complete sentence construction, consistent past-tense narration, and agreement; proofreading punctuation and capitalization will also improve accuracy.

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