Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-11-02

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 Meenakshi,

I am writing this leter to tell you about my experience here in this country.

As you know, I recently finished my full time course from the University of Winnipeg and it was a great experience. You are also planning to join this university which is a good idea and I believe, you will successfully finish the course properly.

Furthermore, in this country I learnt lot if things like manners, education and aslo self-confidence whicg I believe is my inner quilty which makes me strong and self determinant.

Here, I learnt the practical knowledge which I belive will help me in my future career. The university is highly focusing on practical knowlege which I believe is the best part.

I hope you will take my words seriously.

Yours lovingly,

Tarun

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You identify the place of study—the University of Winnipeg—and mention learning about manners, education, self-confidence and practical knowledge. These points are relevant, but the task is only partly addressed because the country itself is never named and the description of what you learnt about it remains general. The explanation of how the year helped your studies is also brief: you say practical knowledge will help your future career, but do not show how it supported your university learning. The letter contains 132 words, so it is 18 words below the required minimum; this limits the space available to develop the three points. Add specific details about the country and a clear example of academic benefit.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The letter follows a recognisable sequence: it introduces your experience, mentions the university, describes learning, and closes with a sign-off. Connectors such as “Furthermore” and “Here” help signal movement between ideas, and the reader can generally follow your message. However, the response is presented as one continuous block, so the different task points are not clearly separated. Some links are also loose: “Here” does not clearly identify whether you mean the country or the university, and the repeated “I believe” makes the progression feel less smooth. Use short paragraphs for the location, cultural learning and academic benefit, and make references explicit to improve the overall flow.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some relevant vocabulary for the topic, including “full time course,” “practical knowledge,” “self-confidence” and “future career.” These choices communicate the general subject, but the range is limited and several spelling errors reduce accuracy, including “leter,” “aslo,” “whicg,” “quilty” and “knowlege.” Some expressions are also imprecise or unnatural, such as “finish the course properly” and “self determinant.” More specific language would help you describe the country and your academic experience clearly. For example, you could refer to “local customs,” “teaching methods” or “coursework.” Check spelling carefully and choose collocations that express your meaning naturally.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

Most sentences use straightforward structures, and the main message is usually understandable. You also attempt to connect ideas with clauses, as in “which I believe will help me in my future career.” However, the range is narrow, with several sentences built around repeated simple patterns. There are grammatical problems in “I learnt lot if things,” where the noun phrase needs an article or determiner, and “the university is highly focusing,” where the verb construction is not well formed. The sentence beginning “As you know” also runs several ideas together. Practise accurate article use and verb patterns, and vary sentence structures while keeping each sentence focused on one main point.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.