Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-10-26

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 Vandana,

I hope you are doing well, how was your Diwali celebration? I wish you enjoyed a lot.

I came to know from your sister that you are planning travel abroad for your further studies. Its really a wonderful decision! and its going to be a pleasure helping you.

I also took this tough decision last year. I know you must be feeling a lot of emotional clashes and its totally normal, but trust me this is going to be the best decision you had ever taken in your life. I took a course of medical biotechnology in the University of Green Land of The United Kingdom. It was also a one year course similar to yours.

It was one of the best experiences of my life. I learned a lot of new things, about new culture, some novel ways of living and so on the list is endless. As far as the benefits are concerned it really helped in my career, I recently got my dream job and I can definitely say that it was because of my studies overseas. Not only i got a career growth but also I felt a lot of personal development for instance, I became an extrovert person all the fears which were there in my life like fear of staying alone, expressing myself, stage fear and so on are almost vanished.

I know its a tough call, but I insist take that it will make a huge contribution in your overall development. I am always ready to help you any time you want. All the very best for you future, be strong and just do it.

Best regard,

Mruga

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You address all three points and maintain a warm, supportive tone suitable for writing to a friend’s sister. You identify your study location and course, and explain how the experience supported your career and personal development, with examples such as overcoming a fear of speaking and living alone. However, the country-learning point is only broadly covered through “new culture” and “novel ways of living”; a specific insight about the country would make this more complete. The study benefit is also explained mainly through your later job and personal growth, rather than showing how the year abroad helped your academic studies directly. Develop that link with an example, such as a skill or knowledge you gained that supported your university course.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The letter has a clear overall shape: you greet Vandana, discuss your experience, describe its benefits, and finish with encouragement. Paragraphing helps separate these stages, and phrases such as “As far as the benefits are concerned” signal a change of focus. Some connections are less smooth, however. The opening moves quickly from asking about Diwali to discussing her plans, while the long paragraph about personal development combines several ideas in one sentence. The repeated use of “and so on” also makes the progression feel less controlled. Use clearer links between the country, your learning, and the academic benefits, and divide the list of personal changes into shorter, more focused sentences.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range for a personal letter, including relevant expressions such as “personal development,” “career growth,” and “studies overseas.” These help communicate your enthusiasm and the value of the experience. You also attempt more expressive language, for example “emotional clashes” and “a huge contribution,” but some choices are unnatural or imprecise in context. “Emotional clashes” does not clearly describe the mixed feelings of moving abroad, and “I wish you enjoyed a lot” is not idiomatic. There are also spelling and word-form slips, including “Its” for “It’s” and “regard” in the sign-off. Aim for natural collocations and check spelling and apostrophes before sending the letter.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You use both simple and more complex sentence forms, including the conditional-style reassurance “trust me this is going to be…” and the sentence beginning “Not only… but also…”. The message remains understandable, but some grammatical errors recur. For example, “I wish you enjoyed a lot” has an unsuitable verb form, and “I insist take that” is missing a grammatical structure. In “I became an extrovert person all the fears…,” two ideas are joined without appropriate punctuation or a linking word. Capitalisation and punctuation are also inconsistent, as in “and its going to be” after an exclamation mark. Review verb forms, sentence boundaries, and the structure after verbs such as “insist” to improve accuracy.

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

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