Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-08-29

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 6.5)

Dear Shivika,

It's been a long time long time, we haven't talked. However, I hope you're doing good. I received you letter regarding the opinion for your future decision.

I personally believe that you shouldn't join the college as you are already did a degree in fashion designing. So it will be best for you to look for a job. The main reason for this is that the good college for your masters is so far from your home and you will not be able to commute on a daily basis.

I believe you should start doing a job so that you can do a lot savings for your master degree. After your earning you can apply for a good university in USA, which will be so easy to get your dream job.

However, you can start applying in your field job on a basic level. Also, as far as I remember you always wanted to teach the students as a craft teacher so you can pursue that occupation too for extra income. You can do these type of job for a good earning.

Hope to hear from you soon

Love,

Isha Goyal

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

You have addressed all three bullet points in the prompt: explaining why college is not ideal, the benefits of working, and suggesting suitable jobs. Your position is clear and consistent throughout the letter. However, the development of your ideas is somewhat limited. For instance, the reason provided for not attending college—that it is 'so far from your home'—is a bit simplistic. To reach a higher band, you could expand on how the time spent commuting would negatively impact your friend's ability to focus on their studies or maintain a work-life balance. Overall, the task is fulfilled, but the depth of reasoning could be improved.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The letter follows a logical structure, with each paragraph focusing on a specific requirement of the prompt. You use basic cohesive devices such as 'However', 'The main reason for this is', and 'Also' to link your ideas. While the progression is clear, the use of cohesive devices is sometimes a bit mechanical or repetitive. Additionally, there are minor issues with referencing, such as 'After your earning', which is slightly awkward. Improving the variety of your linking words and ensuring smoother transitions between sentences would help elevate your score in this criterion.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully using terms like 'commute', 'pursue', and 'occupation'. However, there are some inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'do a lot savings' (should be 'save a lot of money') and 'in your field job' (should be 'in your field'). These errors do not impede communication, but they do highlight a need for more precise usage. To improve, focus on learning common collocations and ensuring that your word forms are used correctly in context.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, which is appropriate for this task. However, there are several grammatical errors throughout the text, such as 'you are already did a degree' (should be 'you have already done') and 'do these type of job' (should be 'do these types of jobs'). There are also minor punctuation and article errors, such as 'the good college' and 'the master degree'. While these errors are frequent, they rarely cause confusion for the reader. Focusing on subject-verb agreement and article usage will help improve your accuracy.

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

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