Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · 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 5.5)

Dear Sam,

I hope you are doing well. Alex told me that you are planning to spend next year in Canada for your further studies, which is the part of your's current degree program.

Conestoga is the college from where I completed my Project manager course. This renowned college not only offers various degree programs but it also have short term cources.

During my stay, I learned about their culture and lifestyle.Stay calm and patients is the another thing, which I learned from this country. I really appreciate the way canadian respect each others and always have a smile on their face.

My study years in this nation provided me international educational experience, which provided me various career oprtunities in international job market.

Please inform me if you require any other information regarding college or accommodation and say hello to Alex from my side.

Best wishes,

Deep

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You address the three requested points: you name Conestoga as the college, mention learning about Canadian culture and lifestyle, and explain that the experience offered international education and career opportunities. However, the country-learning point is quite general, and the study benefit is not clearly connected to your university studies or specific academic development. The opening also assumes Sam is planning to go to Canada, rather than directly responding to her request for your experience. The letter is 147 words, so it does not meet the 150-word minimum. Add a few relevant details—for example, what you learned about daily life and how studying there improved a particular skill or subject—to develop the ideas more fully.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The letter has a clear overall arrangement: it opens with a greeting and context, then uses separate paragraphs for the college, cultural learning, and benefits, before closing politely. This makes the main points easy to locate. Some connections between ideas are less smooth, however. The shift from “During my stay” to “Stay calm and patients” is abrupt, and the final paragraph repeats “provided” in the same sentence. The reference in “their culture” is understandable but could be clearer by naming Canada directly. Use linking phrases selectively and make each paragraph develop one point in a more connected way; this would make the progression feel less mechanical.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use a range of relevant vocabulary, including “renowned college,” “degree programs,” “international educational experience,” and “career opportunities.” These choices communicate the main ideas, but several spelling and word-choice errors reduce accuracy: “cources,” “oprtunities,” and “patients” should be corrected, while “stay calm” does not express the intended quality as naturally as “be patient.” Some phrases are also broad or awkward, such as “in this nation” and “international job market.” Aim for more precise, natural expressions suited to a friendly personal letter, such as “while I was in Canada” and “the international job market.” Proofreading spelling and collocations would strengthen control.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, including “Alex told me that you are planning…” and “This renowned college not only offers… but it also…”. The message remains understandable, but some grammatical errors are noticeable. For example, “your's current degree program” needs the possessive “your,” “it also have” should be “it also has,” and “the another thing” should be “another thing.” In “I really appreciate the way Canadian respect each others,” the subject and plural reference need correction (“Canadians respect each other”). There are also punctuation and spacing issues, such as the missing space after “lifestyle.” Continue practising agreement, articles, and possessives, while checking sentence boundaries and punctuation.

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

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