Band 7.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 7.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-07-24

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

You recently received a letter from a friend asking for advice about whether to go to college or to try to get a job. You think he/she should get a job.

Write a letter to this friend. In your letter

• say why he/she would not enjoy going to college
• explain why getting a job is a good idea for him/her
• suggest types of job that would be suitable for him/her

You do NOT need to write any addresses.

Begin your letter as follows:

Dear ................. ,

Student answer (Band 7.5)

Dear friend

I am writing this letter to give you my advice on whether you should go to college or try to get a job.

While going to college and getting a degree has it's own benefits I believe it would be more beneficial for you to get a job at this time. The reason why I am advising you to get a job is that in today's job market experience holds more value than any degree and most of the companies give preference to candidate who have prior experience in the job role.

Apart from that I think that getting a job will also help you learn valuable skills like time management, decision making and handling stressful situations . Also getting a job will help you gain experience of working with people from different cultures and backgrounds. Another big advantage of getting a job is that it will assist you in becoming self sufficient and managing your own expenses and you can save money to pay for your own college fees. I suggest you to apply for entry level jobs like call center advisors or a receptionist as they can be a good place to start your career and gain experience.

Your friend

MT.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.5

You have addressed all three bullet points of the task effectively. You clearly state why you believe a job is preferable to college, explain the benefits of working, and provide specific examples of suitable roles. The tone is appropriate for a letter to a friend. However, the first bullet point—explaining why your friend would not enjoy college—is slightly under-developed. You mention that experience is more valuable than a degree, but you do not explicitly detail why the college experience itself might be unsuitable or unenjoyable for them. Expanding on this would have provided a more balanced response to the prompt.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.5

The letter is logically organized with a clear introduction, body, and closing. You use cohesive devices such as 'Apart from that', 'Also', and 'Another big advantage' to transition between ideas. While the flow is generally smooth, the paragraphing is a bit sparse; the second and third paragraphs could have been separated more effectively to distinguish between the benefits of working and the specific job suggestions. Additionally, some cohesive links are slightly repetitive. Overall, the message is easy to follow and the progression of ideas is logical throughout the text.

Lexical Resource — Band 7.0

You demonstrate a sufficient range of vocabulary to convey your message clearly. Phrases like 'today's job market', 'handling stressful situations', and 'self-sufficient' are used accurately. There are some minor issues with word choice, such as 'most of the companies give preference to candidate' (should be plural 'candidates') and 'it's own benefits' (should be the possessive 'its'). While the vocabulary is functional and appropriate for the task, it lacks the more sophisticated or idiomatic collocations that would push the score into the higher bands. The language is natural and fits the context of a friendly letter well.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 7.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, which is appropriate for this task. There are some grammatical slips, such as the missing apostrophe in 'it's' (should be 'its') and the error in 'I suggest you to apply' (should be 'I suggest that you apply' or 'I suggest applying'). Punctuation is generally clear, though there are a few missing commas after introductory phrases. Despite these occasional errors, your meaning is never obscured, and the majority of your sentences are accurate. You show a good command of basic and intermediate grammatical forms.

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