Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-10-09

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 Nina,

I got you letter and i would really like to share my experience of unversity course in abroad.

I completed my degree at the Alexander unversity in British Columbia. My experience was really good. Firstly, I was really nervous on my first day at the university because i was in foriegn country among foreign people. I thought, my study is going to be hard but when i met my classmate then i went oppsite from my imagination. The classroom environment was really warm and welcoming.

I learnt a lot of things while i was studying. I learnt different culture. I made so many friends from diffrernt countries, and share our rich culture which helped us to get know more each others.

The reason why i think that abroad was helpful for my studies because the professor always gave the more prorite to practical rather than theortical which helped to gain more knowledge.

I hope my experience will help you in your study and let me know if you need more information.

Best wishes,

Simmi

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You address all three requested points: you identify Alexander University in British Columbia, describe meeting people from different countries and sharing cultures, and explain that practical teaching helped you gain knowledge. The letter is relevant and uses an appropriate friendly tone, including a suitable opening and closing. However, some points are less fully developed than others. The description of the country focuses mainly on cultural exchange with classmates, rather than what you learned about the country itself; a specific observation about local customs, daily life, or the education system would answer this part more directly. The benefit to your studies is also stated briefly, so explain how practical work supported your course or skills.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear overall arrangement: it moves from your initial experience at university, to cultural learning, and then to the academic benefit. Paragraph breaks help distinguish these ideas, and expressions such as “Firstly” and “The reason why” signal the direction of the letter. Some connections are less smooth or precise, however. For example, “when i met my classmate then i went opposite from my imagination” makes the change in your expectations difficult to follow, and “I learnt different culture” does not clearly connect to the following explanation. Use clearer links to show cause and contrast, and make references such as “that abroad” explicit. This would make the progression easier to follow without changing the useful basic structure.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use enough vocabulary to communicate the main experience, including “nervous,” “welcoming,” “practical,” and “theoretical.” There are also attempts to describe cultural exchange and the learning environment. However, the range is limited in places, and several inaccurate word choices, collocations, and spelling errors make the letter less natural. Examples include “university course in abroad,” “get know more each others,” and “gave the more prorite to practical.” These choices can make the reader pause to interpret your meaning. Aim for more precise phrases such as “studied abroad,” “learn more about one another,” and “placed greater emphasis on practical work.” Checking spelling and common word partnerships would improve clarity and control.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and longer sentence forms, for example, “I was really nervous on my first day at the university because…” and the sentence explaining how practical teaching helped you gain knowledge. The main ideas remain understandable, but some grammatical errors occur in sentence construction, tense, articles, and punctuation. In “I got you letter,” the possessive form is needed; “I thought, my study is going to be hard” has an awkward clause connection and tense choice; and “when i met my classmate then…” uses an unclear structure. Capitalisation of “I” is also inconsistent. Practise joining clauses with clear conjunctions and checking articles and verb forms. More accurate control of these patterns would make your varied sentences easier to read.

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