Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-10-13

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 Renal,

I am in pink of health. I hope you are doing good as well. Rohit mentioned to me that you are planning to do your Diploma in Nursing in Austria. It is a big and strong decision and I can completely understand the storm of thoughts that would be running in your mind right now.

As you must cognizant of the fact that I have walked the same path. I pursued my Masters in Health Care Management from Cape Breton University, Canada and have just graduated. It was a great learning experience for me. Along with gaining knowledge, I acquired experience of living alone and managing my own expenses while dealing with home-sickness and multifarious other difficulties. I learnt about the culture and currency system which was paramount to survive. Furthermore, I gained insight about business ideas and healthcare system of North America which has helped me to clarify my mind about job opportunities and my careere plans. This was very helpful for me as it taught me to be confident in life and learn how to be completely independent while living miles away from home and my progenitors. I realised the difference in the education system in both countries and have great ideas about same to suggest in schools here.

I am glad that you are confident enough to take such a massive decision in your life and I completely support you in that. Let me know if you are still anxious or hold any doubts. I will be more than happy to help you in any wasy I can.

Yours

Nandini Chandla

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.0

The letter addresses all three points: you identify Cape Breton University in Canada, describe learning about its culture, currency, healthcare system and education system, and explain how the experience supported your independence and career planning. These details make the response relevant and give the reader a clear sense of your experience. The explanation of how the year helped your studies is present, especially in the references to healthcare knowledge and future plans, but it is less specific than the description of personal growth. To strengthen this further, explain directly how studying abroad improved your nursing or management knowledge, or how it will help with university work. The supportive tone also suits a personal letter.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 7.0

The ideas follow a clear progression: you respond to Renal’s plans, describe your own experience, explain its benefits, and close with an offer of support. Paragraphing helps distinguish the opening from the main account, and linking expressions such as “Furthermore” and “This was very helpful” make relationships between ideas clear. The central paragraph, however, contains many different points in one long sequence, moving from independent living to culture, healthcare, career plans and education. Grouping related ideas into shorter paragraphs would make the progression easier to follow. Some transitions are also slightly formulaic; clearer links between what you learnt and how it benefited your studies would improve cohesion.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use a broad range of vocabulary, including “acquired experience,” “gained insight,” “paramount” and “independent,” and the meaning remains clear throughout. There are also attempts at expressive language, such as “the storm of thoughts,” though this is not a natural collocation in this context. Several choices are inaccurate or overly formal for a friendly letter: “in pink of health,” “cognizant of the fact,” and “progenitors” sound unnatural here. There are also spelling or word-form slips, including “careere” and “wasy.” Aim for precise, natural expressions rather than choosing unusually formal words; this will make your vocabulary more fluent and appropriate to the reader.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

The letter includes both simple sentences and more complex structures, for example “Along with gaining knowledge, I acquired experience…” and “This was very helpful for me as it taught me…”. Most ideas are understandable, and you show some ability to connect clauses. However, some grammatical errors remain. “As you must cognizant of the fact” needs a verb, such as “As you must be aware”; “I hope you are doing good” would be “doing well”; and “ideas about same” needs an article or clearer reference, such as “ideas about the same system.” The sentence beginning “I realised the difference” also needs a plural form if referring to differences. Check verb patterns, articles and sentence boundaries during revision.

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.