Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-10-02

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 Sami,

I received a letter from you, and your are my best friend, you want to get advice from me on whether you continue your study or find a job for yourself.

In my opinion you tries to get a job, first I have some questions for you. Would you enjoy going to university if your answer is yes, then I would prefer to continue your study and become what you in your life. If your answer is no, then my advice for you must be to get a job to secure your future financially and do not waste your time to do nothing.

Getting a job is the best idea for you from me because, you are not feeling joy to do study. So you must be secure a job to earn money and support financially yourself and your family in the future.

You have experience as a receptionist in a hospital for about 2 years, so I prefer to make a good resume of yourself and send it to this resume in multiple hospitals for a call for an interview. Doing this is helpful to get a job in your relevant field experience.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses all parts of the prompt, though the ideas are partially developed and sometimes repetitive. You successfully mention that your friend might not enjoy university and suggest getting a job, specifically recommending a role as a hospital receptionist based on past experience. However, your position and reasoning lack full extension. For instance, stating 'you are not feeling joy to do study' touches on why college is unsuitable, but this point remains limited without further elaboration on the long-term drawbacks of studying versus the benefits of entering the workforce immediately. To reach a higher level, you should extend your arguments with clearer examples and fully develop each of the three bullet points in separate, well-supported paragraphs.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The letter shows some organization with basic paragraphing, but there is a lack of clear overall progression and smooth transitions between ideas. You attempt to link your thoughts using connectors like 'In my opinion' and 'So', but cohesive devices are occasionally repetitive or mechanical. For example, the transition from discussing university in the second paragraph to securing a job in the third paragraph feels abrupt, and referencing between sentences is not always entirely clear. To improve coherence, you need to use a wider and more natural variety of cohesive devices to guide the reader smoothly through your arguments, ensuring each paragraph builds logically upon the previous one with clear topic sentences.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is limited but minimally adequate for the task, with noticeable errors in word choice and collocation that occasionally cause difficulty for the reader. You use some appropriate terms related to employment, such as 'resume', 'interview', and 'relevant field experience', but phrases like 'you tries to get a job' and 'feeling joy to do study' demonstrate unnatural phrasing and word choice. Additionally, there are minor awkward expressions such as 'support financially yourself'. To achieve a higher score, you should incorporate a wider range of less common vocabulary and idiomatic phrases with greater precision, ensuring that word forms and collocations match natural English usage.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The writing displays a limited range of sentence structures, relying mostly on simple or faulty complex sentences, accompanied by frequent grammatical errors. There are notable issues with verb tenses and forms, such as 'your are my best friend, you want to get advice', where comma splices occur, and 'if your answer is yes, then I would prefer to continue your study', where pronoun reference and conditional structures are confused. Furthermore, errors appear in prepositions and clause patterns, such as 'waste your time to do nothing' instead of 'doing nothing'. To improve your grammatical range and accuracy, you need to practise forming accurate complex sentences and pay closer attention to basic subject-verb agreement, tense consistency, and punctuation.

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

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