Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-10-15

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 Suresh,

It was great to hear from you. You have a very important decision to make, but if you would ask my honest advice, I would recommend to skip college, and directly jump into a job.

To be straight with you, you would not enjoy college. You always thrived for actions and sitting in lecture halls absorbing dry, theoretical concepts would drive you crazy. The endless grind of essays, academic classes and deadlines, would just feel incredibly suffocating and tedious.

On the other hand, getting a job is a fantastic decision. Earning your own paychecks, would give immediate financial independence instead of buying in student debt. More over, you will gain genuine work experience and real world skills that a textbook simply cannot replicate.

Given your energetic personality, you would absolutely suit for a fast-paced sales roles or digital marketing apprenticeship. Alternatively, you are good at hands on, pratical tasks, you might want to look in apprentice in IT or graphic design. These roles help you learn at work, keeps active and will clear pathways to move up career & ladder quickly.

I hope my advice helps to you make right decision. Whatever you choose, I wish you great success. Let me hear what you decide.

Best wishes,

Shanmukh

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.0

The letter addresses all three requested points and maintains a clear recommendation to choose work over college. The reasons are relevant and personalised: you say Suresh prefers action and would find lectures and academic deadlines tedious, then explain that employment offers financial independence and practical experience. You also suggest several suitable options, including sales, digital marketing, IT and graphic design. These ideas are extended with some explanation, which supports the response’s clear, purposeful approach. To make the advice more fully developed, explain more specifically why one or two suggested roles match his abilities—for example, what makes him suited to sales or graphic design—rather than listing several options briefly. The friendly opening and closing also suit the task well.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The letter has a clear overall arrangement: it opens with the recommendation, gives reasons against college, explains the benefits of work, and then offers job suggestions before closing. Paragraphing helps the reader follow these stages, and transitions such as “On the other hand” and “Alternatively” make the relationships between ideas clear. This shows a coherent progression, while some linking is a little mechanical or awkward. For instance, “Given your energetic personality” introduces the job suggestions effectively, but the following sentence shifts to practical tasks without a smooth connection. The final paragraph also combines the advice, well-wishes and invitation to reply rather quickly. Use a few more natural links between related points and make references between sentences clearer to strengthen the flow.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range of vocabulary and make some effective attempts at less common expressions, including “financial independence,” “real-world skills,” “fast-paced” and “career ladder.” These choices help convey a friendly, persuasive tone. However, several word-choice, collocation and spelling problems reduce precision: “thrived for actions” is not a natural expression, “buying in student debt” does not express the intended idea, and “pratical” is misspelled. “Apprenticeship” and “apprentice” are also used awkwardly in the job suggestions. Aim for accurate, natural combinations rather than adding dramatic phrasing such as “endless grind” and “incredibly suffocating” together. Proofreading spelling and checking collocations would make your vocabulary more controlled.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

The response includes a mix of simple and more complex sentence forms, such as the contrast between college and work and the conditional suggestion beginning “Alternatively.” Most meaning remains clear, but some grammatical errors appear in otherwise understandable sentences. For example, “I would recommend to skip college” needs a different verb pattern, and “you would absolutely suit for a fast-paced sales roles” has problems with the verb construction and singular/plural agreement. In “These roles help you learn at work, keeps active,” the subject and verb do not agree, and the sentence shifts from “you” to an implied subject. There are also unnecessary commas after subjects, as in “Earning your own paychecks, would give…” Review verb patterns, agreement, articles and punctuation, then proofread each sentence for a consistent subject.

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

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