Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-11-04
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 6.5)
Dear Sneha,
I hope you are doing well. I have recently received your letter in which you have asked about my personal experience while studying in abroad.
I have done a major part of my course from Kwantlen Polytechnic University, located in Canada. It is a multicultural country because people from different cultures live there. The main reason why I studied there is the high level of education. The instructors and classmates were so friendly with me. They always helped whenever I had difficulty in my studies. Moreover, the environment of the University was spectacular as it is built in the centre of the city.
I learnt how to manage time in a correct way. When I was studing my course in Canada, I never wasted my time in playing video games and other non useful things. Other than that, it helped me to develop various qualities such as punctuality and teamwork. Additionally, I became independent and manage my personal tasks.
That one year really helped me to develop skills which will definitely build my career. Furthermore, I have received scholarship in further studies because of overseas education. I would definitely recommend you to move to foreign country in order to pursue education. I believe it will give you opportunity in the future to get a professional job as well.
Best wishes to you family members and writre back whenever you get time.
Yours lovingly,
Jasmeen
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 6.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 6.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 6.0 |
| Overall | 6.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5
The letter addresses all three required points and maintains an appropriate, friendly tone. You identify Kwantlen Polytechnic University in Canada, describe the country as multicultural, and explain that the experience helped you develop time management, independence and teamwork. You also connect the year abroad to your career and scholarship. These details make the response relevant and complete overall. However, the description of what you learnt about Canada is quite limited: being multicultural is the main country-specific observation, while most of the detail concerns your personal habits and university experience. The explanation of how the year helped your studies could also be more explicit—for example, describe how a particular skill improved your academic work. More development of these points would make the response more consistently complete.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5
The information is arranged in a clear sequence: you open by acknowledging the request, describe the university and country, discuss personal learning, and finish with the benefits and a friendly closing. Paragraphing helps distinguish these stages, and linking expressions such as “Moreover,” “Additionally,” and “Furthermore” make relationships between ideas clear. The overall progression is easy to follow. At times, however, the links feel somewhat mechanical, and some ideas within a paragraph are joined without a clear connection—for instance, the university’s location and its “spectacular” environment are mentioned after the instructors’ support without explaining how these points relate. The closing also shifts quickly from career advice to family greetings. Use a few more precise references and transitions to make the connections between ideas smoother.
Lexical Resource: Band 6.0
You use an adequate range of vocabulary for a personal letter, including relevant terms such as “multicultural,” “punctuality,” “teamwork,” “independent,” and “scholarship.” These choices help communicate the experience and its benefits. There are also attempts at more formal or descriptive language, such as “pursue education” and “professional job,” though some combinations are not natural or precise in context. Phrases such as “studying in abroad,” “manage time in a correct way,” and “non useful things” show that word choice and collocation are not consistently controlled. The spelling slips “studing” and “writre” also affect accuracy. Aim for natural combinations and more specific vocabulary about the country and academic experience; this would add flexibility and precision without changing the friendly tone.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0
The letter includes a mix of simple and more complex sentence forms, including a relative clause in “a multicultural country because people from different cultures live there” and a conditional structure in “whenever I had difficulty.” Most meaning remains clear, and the reader can follow the account. Some grammatical errors persist, however. In “I have recently received your letter in which you have asked,” the present perfect is awkward for a letter already received; “you asked” would be more suitable. “I have done a major part of my course from” has an incorrect preposition and tense pattern, while “I became independent and manage my personal tasks” shifts tense within the sentence. There are also missing articles in “give you opportunity” and “move to foreign country.” Check tense consistency, articles and sentence patterns during revision.
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.