Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-08-04

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 5.5)

Dear John,

I hope you are in the pink of health. I received your letter in which you are asking for my advice about whether to go to college or try get a job. If I would be in your shoes then I would have chosen the job opportunity instead.

Going directly to college will not give you the outside world exposure, and ultimately you would not enjoy going to college as much as you dreamed off.

Furthermore, choosing job is more beneficial for you because the experience gained from the job will directly or indirectly help you in the future. Although, college give you the theoretical knowledge, job give you the practical knowledge that you need to understand the concept with its actual usage.

I would recommend the marketing job because I personally feels that you are good in communication which will help you to grow faster in the field.

I hope to hearing from you soon.

Best wishes,

Mike.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

You have addressed all three bullet points of the prompt: explaining why college might not be enjoyable, why a job is a good alternative, and suggesting a specific job type. Your position is clear from the start. However, the development of your ideas is somewhat limited. For instance, the explanation regarding why college lacks 'outside world exposure' is quite brief and could have been expanded with more specific examples to better support your argument. Similarly, while you mention marketing, providing a bit more detail on why that specific role suits your friend would have strengthened the response. Overall, you have fulfilled the requirements of the task effectively.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The letter follows a logical progression, moving from the introduction to the advice and concluding with a sign-off. You use basic cohesive devices such as 'Furthermore' and 'Although' to link your ideas. However, the paragraphing is somewhat underdeveloped; the body of the letter could be more clearly divided into distinct paragraphs for each point to improve readability. Additionally, some transitions feel slightly mechanical. To reach a higher band, ensure that your sentences flow more naturally into one another and that your paragraph structure clearly separates the different aspects of your advice.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

You demonstrate a sufficient range of vocabulary for the task, including some idiomatic expressions like 'in the pink of health' and 'in your shoes'. However, there are some inaccuracies in word choice and collocation. For example, you write 'dreamed off' instead of 'dreamed of' and 'choosing job' instead of 'choosing a job'. There is also a slight misuse of 'theoretical knowledge' versus 'practical knowledge' in terms of natural phrasing. While your vocabulary is adequate to convey your meaning clearly, you need to focus on more precise word choices and correct collocations to move into the higher bands.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as the conditional 'If I would be in your shoes then I would have chosen...' (though this contains a grammatical error). There are several recurring errors, such as subject-verb agreement ('college give you', 'job give you', 'I personally feels') and article usage ('choosing job'). While these errors do not impede communication, they are frequent enough to prevent a higher score. To improve, pay closer attention to verb endings and the use of articles, and try to ensure that your complex sentence structures are grammatically accurate.

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

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