Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-10-18

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 Ayesha,

I hope you are doing well. I received your letter in which you mentioned spending a year studying abroad as part of a university course. I did this recently, and you asked me about my experience. I think this is a very good choice for studying abroad. I chose China for myself because it has a lot of demand in my field. As you know, I was an information technology student. However, China is very beneficial for technology and provides many internship programs for international students. In addition, during my course, we had to learn the Chinese language for further studies, and this language also helps us to find a job in our area of interest; also, we had a great time to learn new language and skills. Moreover, I spent one year in China with international students; it was a very beneficial experience for me, and now I have a job in the same field with a good salary package. personally chinses language helps me a lot to find a job in new companies. I believe you enjoy it a lot.

I look forward to your response.

Best wishes,

Sumbal

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You address all three points: you identify China as your study destination, mention learning about its technology opportunities and language, and explain that the experience helped you gain skills and secure work in your field. The link between studying abroad and your current job is relevant, but the description of what you learnt about China is less fully developed; for example, “China is very beneficial for technology” is broad and does not give a specific insight into the country. The letter is appropriately addressed to Ayesha and uses a friendly closing. To strengthen the response, add a concrete example of a cultural or academic discovery and explain more clearly how the year supported your university studies, rather than focusing mainly on employment.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The letter has a recognisable opening, a main section about your experience, and an appropriate closing, so its overall purpose is clear. However, most of the information is placed in one long paragraph, and the ideas move quickly from China’s technology sector to language learning, international students, and your job. Connectors such as “However,” “In addition,” and “Moreover” help signal relationships, but their use can feel mechanical, and “also” is repeated. The sentence beginning “Moreover, I spent one year…” contains several ideas that would be clearer if separated. Use two or three paragraphs to group the destination, what you learnt, and the academic benefits, and make each transition show the relationship between those points.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use enough vocabulary to communicate the main experience, including “internship programs,” “international students,” “language,” and “area of interest.” There are also attempts at more specific expressions, such as “technology” and “salary package.” However, some word choices and collocations are unnatural or imprecise: “a lot of demand in my field,” “beneficial for technology,” and “a great time to learn new language” do not express your meaning smoothly. The spelling “chinses” also reduces accuracy, and “personally” should be capitalised at the start of its sentence. Aim for more natural combinations and precise descriptions of what China offered and what you gained.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You use a mix of simple and more developed sentence forms, including the clause “because it has a lot of demand in my field” and the sentence beginning “In addition, during my course…”. The message remains understandable, but some grammatical errors affect fluency. For example, “learn new language and skills” needs an article or plural form, and “I believe you enjoy it a lot” would be more natural with a future form when referring to her planned year. The long sentence beginning “Moreover” joins several ideas with semicolons and commas, making the structure difficult to follow. Break long sentences into shorter units, check articles and verb forms, and use punctuation to separate complete ideas.

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.