Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-10-21

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 Sara,

I hope you are doing well! I have recently heard received your letter and I am very happy that your going Australia for the completion of your graduation. I studied in "Dwell University" in Melbourne, which is such a fascinating institution for international students.

Not only I completed my course but I also explore the culture of this country. The festivel shows and Melbourn's cusinies attract the foreigners.The significant thing about this country I want yo share with you is that natives have special charateristics of hostality.

The education that I completed here, was pretty beneficial for me in my country because of its high scope in marketing. During this year, I learnt excessive number of skills that helped me in my professional life and I made progress earlier on the basis of these skills.

I am always ready to help you, in any case if you needed me you can contact me without any hesistation.

Warm Wishes,

Huda

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You address all three points: you name Dwell University in Melbourne, mention local festivals, cuisine and hospitality, and explain that the experience developed skills useful in your professional life and marketing studies. The purpose and friendly tone are clear. However, some parts are less fully developed than others. The description of what you learnt about Australia is brief and general, while the study benefit is not clearly connected to specific academic learning or how it helped your university course. The opening also says Sara is going to Australia, although the task only says she is considering studying abroad. Add a concrete example of a cultural discovery and explain how a particular skill or course experience supported your studies.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The letter has a clear overall sequence: greeting and study location, observations about the country, academic benefits, then a friendly closing. Paragraph breaks help distinguish these stages, and links such as “Not only…but also” and “because of” show an attempt to connect ideas. This meets the lower-band expectation of coherent overall arrangement and shows some features of stronger progression. At times, however, connections are abrupt: the move from cultural observations to “The education that I completed here” could be smoother, and the final offer of help feels detached from the main explanation. Use clearer transitions and ensure each paragraph develops one main point before moving to the next.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some relevant vocabulary for the topic, including “international students,” “culture,” “professional life,” and “marketing.” There are also attempts at more expressive language, such as “fascinating institution” and “significant thing.” However, the range is limited and several noticeable spelling, word-form, and collocation errors make parts less natural or briefly difficult to understand. Examples include “festivel shows,” “Melbourn's cusinies,” “hostality,” and “excessive number of skills.” Some phrases, such as “high scope in marketing,” do not clearly express the intended meaning. Build accuracy by checking spelling and choosing common, precise collocations; this will make your ideas easier to follow without relying on awkward or overly broad wording.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, including “Not only…I also…” and a relative clause in “Melbourne, which is…”. The main message remains understandable, but errors in verb forms, agreement, articles, and sentence construction are frequent enough to affect fluency. For example, “I have recently heard received” combines incompatible verb forms, “your going” needs a possessive-free contraction, and “Not only I completed…but I also explore” has faulty word order and tense consistency. The sentence beginning “The education that I completed here, was…” also uses an unnecessary comma. Practise forming accurate past-tense sentences and checking subject–verb patterns, then proofread each sentence for one clear grammatical structure.

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