Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-10-19

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 6.0)

Dear Priya,

I hope this letter finds you in best of health. How's you been? I am glad that you asked for my opinion.

Well, I have studied at Guelph university, Guelph, Canada as part of academic course. The course was for one year duration. So I gets to spend a lot of time at the premises.

Living in absolutely different country gave me a reality check. I wasn't ready at first. I had thought of returning, but with the time, I gradually adapted the situation. I got to learn about the various traditions, cultures and festivals of that particular region. Eventually, I made some friends during my stay.

I think the one year that I spent abroad really helped in my academic prospects as I got the expsoure at international level. Moreover, I was able to diversify my samples for the research studies.

Hope to see you soon.

With love,

Amitoz Singh

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

You address all three points in the task: you identify Guelph University in Canada, describe adapting to local traditions and meeting people, and explain that the experience supported your academic prospects and research. The letter is relevant and uses an appropriate friendly tone. The account of what you learnt about the country is the least developed: “various traditions, cultures and festivals” is broad, and one specific example would make this more informative. Likewise, explain how international exposure or a wider range of research samples improved your studies. The main information is clear, but developing these points with concrete detail would make the response more complete and persuasive.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The letter has a clear overall arrangement: an opening, a paragraph about studying abroad, a paragraph about adapting to the country, and a final paragraph on academic benefits. This progression helps the reader follow your experience, and linking phrases such as “Eventually” and “Moreover” show an effort to connect ideas. Some transitions are a little abrupt, however, particularly the move from feeling unprepared to learning about traditions. The short closing also feels detached from the explanation. Use clearer links to show how your experiences led to what you learnt, and connect the research benefit more explicitly to your course. This would make the cohesion more natural rather than relying mainly on simple sequencing words.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use enough vocabulary to communicate the main ideas, including “adapted,” “traditions,” “academic prospects” and “research studies.” There are also attempts at more specific expressions, such as “international level,” but some choices are inaccurate or unnatural and reduce precision. For example, “spend a lot of time at the premises” does not clearly express what you mean, while “diversify my samples” is an awkward collocation in this context. “Expsoure” is also misspelled. Aim for natural phrases that describe your experience and academic gains precisely, and check spelling carefully. A broader, more consistently accurate range would make the letter sound more fluent and assured.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt a mix of simple and more complex sentences, including “Living in absolutely different country gave me a reality check” and the sentence beginning “I think the one year…”. The overall meaning remains understandable, but some grammatical errors are noticeable. Examples include “How’s you been?” and “So I gets to spend,” where the verb forms do not agree with the subject, as well as “in best of health,” which is missing an article. “I gradually adapted the situation” also needs a different grammatical pattern. Review question forms, subject–verb agreement, articles and verb patterns. More accurate control of these structures, alongside your attempts at longer sentences, would strengthen the letter.

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