Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-09-14

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 5.0)

Dear Friend

I hop you are very good and healthy.I receive a letter recently you write me.I understend your problem so i just wanted to write to you about some advice for job

Firstly,I will tell you about the losses resulting from leaving college.You have to depend on others for your expenses.You can not live your life peacefully and joyfully.Another thing is, if you work, you can live life to the fullest and cover your own expenses.Apart from this,you can also help others.If you want a job,you can work part time as a book seller,a cook,or even do delivery work.All these jobs are good for you because you will be able to study alongside working and earn money.And this all jobs very saif.I hope you will think about what i said and start good working in good place and injoy your life.

Your dear friend.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The response covers all three bullet points required in the task instructions: it mentions why college might not be enjoyable (having to depend on others for expenses), explains why getting a job is a good idea (covering expenses and helping others), and suggests suitable jobs (bookseller, cook, delivery worker). However, there is a minor contradiction where the text suggests the friend should not go to college, yet later states these jobs allow the friend to "study alongside working." More importantly, the response falls slightly short of the 150-word minimum, containing only 145 words. Consequently, the task has been only partially fulfilled regarding length requirements, leading to a penalty under Task Achievement.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The letter opens with standard formal-style greetings ("Dear Friend") and attempts to organize ideas logically. However, the paragraphing is extremely poor, with almost the entire body of the letter crammed into one massive, unbroken paragraph. Cohesive devices are basic and repetitive, frequently relying on simple sequencing words like "Firstly" and "Another thing is." Referencing is occasionally unclear, as seen in phrases like "And this all jobs very saif." While there is an overall sense of communication, the lack of proper paragraphing and mechanical cohesion pulls the score down.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The student uses a limited but minimally adequate range of vocabulary suitable for the task, including terms like "expenses," "part time," "bookseller," and "cook." There are noticeable spelling and word-choice errors throughout the text, such as "hop" instead of "hope," "understend," "injoy," and "saif" instead of "safe." Phrases like "start good working in good place" lack natural collocation. These errors cause some difficulty for the reader and demonstrate restricted lexical flexibility, keeping the writing firmly in the lower-middle bands.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 4.5

The writer demonstrates a mix of simple and occasional complex sentence forms, such as conditional clauses ("If you want a job, you can work part time..."). However, control over punctuation and sentence boundaries is weak, characterized by missing spaces after commas and periods (e.g., "healthy.I receive"). There are frequent grammatical errors, including missing articles ("do delivery work"), subject-verb agreement issues ("this all jobs"), and incorrect verb forms. These errors frequently strain meaning and require the reader to decode the intended message.

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

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