Band 4.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-10-30

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 friend

I remember when i was studying in

united kingdom.the school is very famous in London.and the teacher is

very great and all my classmate

is very respectful and great.

I learned to cook and laundry during

im in uk because i rent a boarding house and im alone.

in the hole year for study in UK it is useful because i learn more

Respectfully Your's

NADOR A.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.0

You make a relevant attempt to answer the letter prompt: you mention studying in the United Kingdom, describe learning to cook and do laundry while living alone, and say the year was useful for your studies. However, the response addresses the task only minimally. The location is vague, and the explanation of what you learnt about the country is mostly about personal chores rather than the country itself. The benefit to your studies is also unfinished: “i learn more” does not explain what you learned or how it helped your course. The response is 69 words, below the required 150. Develop each bullet with specific details, and include a suitable greeting to the friend’s sister and a complete closing.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.5

The response has a basic letter-like shape, with a greeting, short paragraphs and a sign-off, and the ideas broadly follow the order of the task: study location, experience, then usefulness. This gives the reader some sense of organisation. However, the progression is very limited because each point is expressed in only a brief, disconnected statement. There are no linking expressions to show how living in a boarding house led to learning household skills, or how the experience supported your studies. The opening also breaks across lines in a way that interrupts the flow. Use complete paragraphs and simple links such as “While I was there” and “As a result” to connect and extend the ideas.

Lexical Resource: Band 4.5

You use basic vocabulary that communicates a few relevant ideas, including “studying,” “teacher,” “classmate,” and “useful.” However, the range is limited and several expressions are imprecise or unnatural, which makes parts of the letter difficult to interpret. For example, “the school is very famous in London” does not clearly identify the institution, while “learned to cook and laundry” does not express the intended household skills accurately. “In the hole year for study” is also unclear. Choose more precise phrases for the country, accommodation and academic benefits, and check spelling and word forms. A wider set of topic-specific expressions would help you describe both cultural learning and progress in your course.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.5

Most of the response uses short, simple statements, so there is little evidence of a wider range of sentence structures. Errors in basic grammar and punctuation occur throughout and sometimes make the meaning unclear. For instance, “the teacher is very great” shifts tense from the past experience, and “all my classmate is” has a plural subject with a singular verb. The sentence “because im rent a boarding house and im alone” has an incorrect verb form and lacks clear sentence construction. Capitalisation and sentence boundaries are also inconsistent. Practise forming accurate past-tense sentences and joining ideas with “because” or “which helped me.” Proofread for subject–verb agreement, articles, apostrophes and full stops.

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

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