Band 4.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.5 · 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 4.5)

dear,

I hope you are doing well, recently your sister told me that you are moving to Canada for your further studies. first of all congratulations to you and today i will share my experience about living in abroad.

so, I studied in Alpha college of business and technology and did my two year deploma in hospitality and tourism.

Furthermore, your college is also located in Toronto that is not far from here. actually when I first moved to Canada and my classes were starting after a month that time I felt very lonely and was missing my home.However, as my college started I met my classmates and due to regular classes we became friends. Even two of us found a part-time job together.

At the time life became inetresting and easy in foreign and found my friend really helpfull with group projects and assignment that we did together. I visited alot of places with them that i could not if i was alone.

I wish you will also find your college life amazing and comfertable. I will see you here and do not forget to share your Canadian address to me. see you soon.

your lovingly

Harman

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.0

You make a relevant attempt to describe your experience in Canada and explain that meeting classmates, working together, and doing group assignments made life easier. However, the task is addressed only minimally because two key points are not clearly answered: you do not explain what you learnt about Canada as a country, and you do not clearly connect the year abroad to your university studies. The opening also says the recipient is “moving to Canada,” rather than clearly responding to her plan to study abroad for a year. Develop these points with specific examples—for instance, a cultural difference you noticed and a skill or subject knowledge that helped your course.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.5

The letter has a basic sequence, moving from the greeting and congratulations to your college experience and a closing wish. Paragraph breaks help separate some ideas, and connectors such as “Furthermore” and “However” show an attempt to link information. However, the progression is not consistently clear: the reference to “your college” and “not far from here” is difficult to follow, and the shift from feeling lonely to finding a job and visiting places is abrupt. Several ideas are crowded into long sections, while “so” and “actually” do not always clarify the relationship between them. Organise the letter around the three requested points, using clear paragraphing and explicit links between each experience and its significance.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use enough everyday vocabulary to communicate the general experience, including “lonely,” “classmates,” “part-time job,” and “group projects.” There are also attempts at more specific expressions such as “hospitality and tourism.” However, the range is limited and some word choices or collocations are inaccurate, which makes parts of the letter less clear or natural: “living in abroad,” “life became inetresting and easy in foreign,” and “find your college life amazing and comfertable.” Spelling errors such as “deploma,” “helpfull,” and “alot” are noticeable. Choose more precise phrases, such as “living abroad,” “life became more enjoyable,” and “supportive classmates,” and check spelling before submitting.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and longer sentences, for example, “when I first moved to Canada and my classes were starting after a month that time I felt very lonely.” This shows an effort to explain events and their timing, but sentence structures are often faulty or incomplete, and errors sometimes make relationships between ideas difficult to understand. Examples include “I hope you are doing well, recently your sister told me,” which joins clauses incorrectly, and “I wish you will also find,” where the verb form is not appropriate. Capitalisation and punctuation are also inconsistent, as in lowercase “i” and missing spaces after full stops. Use shorter, correctly punctuated sentences first, then practise linking them with accurate subordinate clauses and verb forms.

See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.

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