Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

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

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 Sadaf,

Hope you are doing well and enjoying your life. As you asked me about my experience abroad and you are planning to be there soon.

Initially I wanna tell you that I have studied in King Abdul Aziz University located in Riyadh the capital of Saudi Arabia. The University is having extremely good environment as its has a well furnished library and having computer labs and play grounds and the Staff is highly cooperative and friendly.

Furthermore I wana tell you that I have learent lot about Saudi Arabia as its has a diverse community. People from different countries are studying there and I have known about the culture of different countries and languages as I have learnt Arabic and can speak fluently. So it's helps to gain more skills and knowledge.

I will also share my experience that this year was really helpful for my studies because of its modern labs that helps in modern search and make me able to publish different articles in international Generals.

Best wishes,

Your well wisher,

Ahmad Shah

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You address all three requested points: you name King Abdul Aziz University and Saudi Arabia, describe the country’s diverse community and your exposure to Arabic and other cultures, and explain that modern laboratories supported your studies and article writing. These details make the letter relevant and give the reader a clear sense of your experience. However, some points are less fully developed than others. The description of the country focuses mainly on the university community, rather than explaining more broadly what you learned about Saudi Arabia, and the academic benefit would be clearer with a specific example of how the experience helped your university course. A little more personal detail would make the account more informative and complete.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The letter has a coherent overall arrangement: it opens with a greeting, moves through the university and cultural experience, then explains the academic benefit before closing. Paragraph breaks help distinguish these topics, and phrases such as “Furthermore” and “I will also share my experience” signal progression. At times, however, the linking feels mechanical, and the opening sentence fragment (“As you asked me about my experience abroad…”) does not connect smoothly to the preceding sentence. Some references, such as “its” and “this year,” are not fully clear. Use complete sentences and more direct links between ideas—for example, explain how learning Arabic or using the laboratories specifically supported your studies—to make the progression easier to follow.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use enough vocabulary to communicate the main experience, including relevant terms such as “diverse community,” “cooperative,” “modern labs,” and “international journals.” However, the range is limited and several word choices, collocations, and spelling errors reduce precision. “The University is having” is an awkward way to describe its facilities, while “modern search” does not express the intended academic activity clearly. “Generals” also appears to be an incorrect word for the publications you mean. Informal forms such as “wanna” are not well suited to this letter. Aim for accurate, natural phrases and check spelling carefully; this will make your descriptions clearer without requiring more complicated vocabulary.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more extended sentence forms, and the reader can generally understand the main message. Some grammatical errors remain, particularly with sentence boundaries, verb forms, and agreement. The opening “As you asked me about my experience abroad and you are planning to be there soon” is a dependent clause rather than a complete sentence. In “The University is having … and having,” the verb pattern is not controlled, and “its has” and “it’s helps” show errors with pronouns and subject–verb agreement. The sentence about the laboratories also shifts between “helps” and “make me able.” Practise complete sentences and consistent verb forms, and proofread agreement and punctuation; these changes would improve accuracy while preserving your ideas.

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