Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-11-03

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 Kim,

I hope your doing well. I am delight to hear that you are going to study in winnipeg Canada. I am so happy for you.

I would like to tell you where I studied when I was in Winnipeg. I was in Mitt College in Winnipeg, which second well-know college. I completed my degree in Applied Leadership course here.

In Addition, apart form studies I have gained experience in my pratical life and got knowelgde about Winnipeg. I was amazed to that in winnipeg there is community known as Red-Indian's they look exactly some as Indian's. Moreover, the culture here is rich and interesting.

Lastly, My years in aboard were extremely beneficial for studies because it give me an opportunity to gain pratical knowledge and it also enriched my communication skills.Moreover, I got chance to study with different culture student learn their language.Overall, it was worth experice studying abroad.

I wish you all the best for your future.

Warm Wish,

Harvir

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You address all three requested points: you identify Winnipeg and “Mitt College,” describe aspects of the country and its culture, and explain that the experience developed practical knowledge and communication skills. The letter is relevant and its friendly tone suits the reader. However, some points are not fully clear or developed. For example, “which second well-know college” does not explain what you mean about the college, and the description of the Red Indian community is brief and could be expressed more thoughtfully and precisely. Your explanation of how the year abroad helped your studies would be stronger with a specific example of how the practical knowledge or language learning supported your university work. Overall, the task is covered, but some ideas need clearer explanation and support.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The letter has a clear overall arrangement: you greet Kim, discuss where you studied, describe what you learned, explain the academic benefits, and close with good wishes. Paragraphing helps distinguish these stages, and signposts such as “In Addition” and “Lastly” make the progression easy to follow. This meets the lower-band expectation of coherent organisation and shows some features of stronger control. However, the linking can feel mechanical, particularly with repeated additions such as “Moreover,” and some connections between ideas are abrupt. For instance, the move from practical experience to the description of a community is not explained. Use fewer formulaic transitions and make the relationship between ideas explicit; clearer paragraph development and reference would make the flow more natural.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some vocabulary relevant to the topic, including “Applied Leadership,” “practical knowledge,” “communication skills,” and “culture,” so the reader can understand the main message. However, the range is limited and several noticeable spelling, word-form, and collocation errors make parts of the letter difficult to interpret. Examples include “knowelgde,” “pratical,” “worth experice,” and “I was amazed to that.” Some expressions, such as “different culture student,” are not formed naturally, while “second well-know college” is unclear. These issues fit a level where vocabulary is sufficient to convey basic ideas but accuracy is inconsistent. Build a bank of common study-abroad phrases and check spelling and collocations carefully before submitting.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple sentences and longer structures, including “because it give me an opportunity … and it also enriched my communication skills,” and the overall meaning is generally recoverable. However, the range of sentence patterns is limited, and errors in verb forms, articles, agreement, and sentence construction occur often enough to affect clarity. For example, “I hope your doing well” needs the correct form of “you are,” while “which second well-know college” lacks a complete grammatical structure. In “it give me,” the verb form does not agree with the past-time account, and “got chance” is missing an article. Practise accurate past-tense narration and complete clause structures, then proofread for articles and agreement.

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

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