Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-10-05

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 Sam,

i am writing this letter to reply you question in which you ask me advice. I advice you to find a good job for you instead of going to college.

I think you will not enjoy your college any more as you already done your master degree and since you does not have that much financial support, you should think about your finance.

I think you should apply for banking or accounting as you have enough knowledge regarding this sector. I consider after getting job in this field you can become more financial strong and more independent. Later, you can continue your study once you have enough financial sources. You would able to manage your work and study both with passage of time. Let me know if i can help you for something , i would be happy to aid you. I am wishing a successful future a head for you.

Your lovely

Ravneet Kaur

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You successfully address all parts of the prompt by explaining why your friend might not enjoy college, why getting a job is a good idea, and suggesting suitable types of employment, such as banking or accounting. Your tone is generally appropriate for an informal letter to a friend. However, some ideas are more fully developed than others; for instance, the explanation of why he would not enjoy college relies heavily on the assertion that he already holds a master's degree without fully exploring the social or practical drawbacks of further study. To reach a higher band, all parts of the prompt would need deeper elaboration and a more extended discussion of each point.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

Your letter has a coherent overall arrangement and follows a logical letter-writing format, opening with a friendly salutation and closing with a standard sign-off. However, the cohesion between sentences is sometimes mechanical or relies on repetitive transitional phrases like 'I think'. Paragraphing is present, but grouping all your main arguments into one large body paragraph limits the logical progression and flow of your ideas. To improve this criterion, you should divide your thoughts into distinct paragraphs for each bullet point and make greater use of varied cohesive devices to guide the reader smoothly through your arguments.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully incorporating topic-related terms such as 'financial support', 'banking', 'accounting', and 'independent'. There are, nevertheless, several noticeable lexical errors and awkward word choices, such as 'reply you question' instead of 'reply to your question', 'financial strong' instead of 'financially strong', and 'financial sources' instead of 'financial resources'. While these minor inaccuracies do not completely impede communication, they highlight an inconsistency in word form and collocation. Expanding your vocabulary and refining your use of less common expressions will help elevate your lexical score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as conditional and time clauses ('Later, you can continue your study once you have enough financial sources'). However, your writing contains frequent grammatical errors, including issues with verb forms and tenses ('reply you question', 'you already done your master degree', 'since you does not have'), missing articles ('getting job'), and preposition usage ('aid you'). Punctuation slips are also present, such as comma splices and spacing errors around punctuation marks. These frequent errors require the reader to occasionally decode your intended meaning and prevent the response from achieving a higher band.

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

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