Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-10-22

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 Anya,

Hope you are doing well! glad to know that you are planning to percue your further studies in abroad. I am writing to you to tell you about my experience while i studied abroad.I studied in Camosun college in canada for my post graduation in art and culture.

My class was full with international students who came from different culture.I really enjoy the company of different pupils with the different background.I came know about theier culture ,history and even learn some basic words of different langugages because i was surrounded with multi- lingual people.

I preferred to studied abroad because i want to learn about different culture and expand my circle to get vast opportunities for my career.Although i learnt alot about various arts of many countries,I enjoyed it alot.

If you want any further information regarding this, just let me know. Good luck for your future.

Best wishes,

Priyanka

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You address all three requested points: you identify Camosun College in Canada, describe learning about other cultures, histories and languages, and explain that studying abroad broadened your cultural understanding and career opportunities. The letter is relevant and uses an appropriate friendly tone. However, the account of what you learnt about Canada is less fully developed: most of the detail concerns the international students’ backgrounds rather than the country itself. The benefit to your studies is also somewhat unclear, since you mention career opportunities and learning about art but do not explain how the experience supported your university course or academic progress. Add a specific example of Canadian culture or study life and connect it directly to your studies.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The letter has a clear overall arrangement: an opening, paragraphs about your experience and learning, a paragraph on benefits, and a suitable closing. The ideas generally progress in a sensible order, and phrases such as “because” and “Although” help show relationships between them. Some connections are less clear, however. For example, “I preferred to studied abroad because i want to learn” shifts from describing your past experience to explaining a general preference, so the timeline and link to the question are not fully clear. The second paragraph also moves quickly from classmates to culture, history and language. Use clearer links between these details and organise the learning and academic benefits into more focused points.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use enough vocabulary to communicate the main experience, including “international students,” “different background,” “multi-lingual” and “opportunities for my career.” However, the range is limited and several word-choice, collocation and spelling errors make the letter less natural. Examples include “percue your further studies in abroad,” “full with international students,” and “vast opportunities.” There are also repeated general words such as “different,” “culture” and “alot,” which reduce precision. Choose more natural expressions and check spelling carefully. For instance, you could describe classmates as coming from “a range of cultural backgrounds” and say the experience “broadened my understanding” rather than repeating that you learnt “alot.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You communicate through a mix of short statements and some longer sentences, such as “I came know about theier culture, history and even learn some basic words…” The meaning is usually understandable, but there are some errors in verb forms, sentence construction, articles and punctuation. For example, “I preferred to studied” should use the base form after “to,” while “I came know” needs a grammatical construction such as “I came to know.” The shift in “I want to learn” also does not fit smoothly with the past account. Capitalisation of “I” and sentence boundaries need attention, particularly in “Hope you are doing well! glad to know…” Practise accurate past-tense narration and review sentence openings and punctuation.

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