Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-10-01

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 Pal,

I hope you are doing well. It has been such a long time since we had a coffee. I received your letter and writing to advice you to focus on getting a job rather than studies.

To begin with, you recently completed your Bachelors of Computer Engineering from the University of Toronto. Doing a further study is worthless as you are already know the fundamentals of all subjects.I suggest you to complete certifications from websites such as Udemy, which will help you to work directly on industry projects and builds more credibility.

Getting a job nowadays is more crucial for your personal and professional growth. It gives you a direct hands on experience with in-demand softwares such as MS Excel, MYSQL, and PowerBI. In addtion, you could network more efficiently and gain valuable experience in Canada.

I would suggest you to focus on jobs which are related to software engineering, data analysis, and how can I not mention about AI. Your expertise in mathematics and problem solving are quite crucial to succeed.

Let's catch up on next Sunday at the Humber River food festival at 6 PM, to reminiscences our school days while having momos. I look forward to hearing from you.

Warm regards,

Neel Desai

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

You successfully address all parts of the prompt, fulfilling the requirements for a general training letter by adopting an appropriate informal tone and covering all bullet points. You explain why your friend might not enjoy further studies by pointing out their existing degree in computer engineering, and you suggest suitable jobs such as software engineering and data analysis. However, some ideas show a tendency to be slightly under-developed; for instance, the explanation of why further study is 'worthless' could be expanded with more specific personal or professional insights. To reach a higher band level, all main points would need deeper extension and richer supporting details throughout the body paragraphs while maintaining a consistently clear communicative purpose.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 7.0

Your letter demonstrates a clear logical organisation and progression throughout. You make effective use of paragraphing to structure your thoughts, moving smoothly from the opening pleasantries to your primary advice, followed by specific job suggestions, and concluding with a friendly invitation. Cohesive devices are handled reasonably well, using transitional phrases like 'To begin with', 'Getting a job nowadays', and 'In addition' to guide the reader. While referencing is generally clear, occasional cohesive ties feel slightly mechanical. To achieve the next level of coherence, you could employ a wider variety of cohesive relationships more flexibly, ensuring that paragraph transitions feel entirely natural and effortless rather than formulaic.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.5

You display an adequate range of vocabulary suitable for the task, attempting less common items such as 'fundamentals', 'credibility', and 'expertise' with generally good effect. There are, however, some noticeable word-choice and spelling errors that prevent a higher score, such as 'writing to advice you' instead of 'advise', 'doing a further study' instead of 'further studies', and 'In addtion'. These minor inaccuracies do not impede communication, but they highlight a slight lack of precision. To secure a higher band, you need to demonstrate greater control over less common lexical items, refined collocations, and completely accurate spelling throughout the response.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

You demonstrate a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, incorporating relative clauses and conditional structures into your writing. There are, nevertheless, several grammatical errors present, such as 'as you are already know the fundamentals', missing articles in 'hands on experience', and prepositional inaccuracies like 'on next Sunday' instead of simply 'next Sunday'. These errors occur alongside some error-free sentences, but they persist enough to keep the response at the current level. To move upward, you must improve your control over verb forms, articles, and prepositions, ensuring that complex sentence patterns are executed with greater accuracy and consistency.

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.