Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · 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 6.0)

Dear Sarah,

I am writing this letter to you regarding an advise to you that whether to go to college or to try to get a job. I would suggest that you should get a job instead of going to college.

I think you would not fully enjoy going to college because firstly, it is very expensive and you would not be able to do any other activity because you would be stressed on passing each grade. Another reason is, the influence of other people where you would be doing some sort of inappropriate behaviour like drugs, gangs, peer pressure. College student are most likely to be influenced by each other very easily and you would ruin your life.

Therefore, looking at all this negative impacts that this will make, I think getting a job is a good idea because you will be able to understand the world better and gain experience of how things work outside your own comfort. You would be focused on developing your abilities and gaining knowledge of outside world and would be less focused on doing wrong things in life. Making money at certain age wll allow you to be successful rather than going to college and ruining yourself.

I would suggest the type of job that would be suitable for you is receptionist, sales respresentatives at a store, waitress. I think this is the best jobs that you should be focused on because this jobs will help you grow and become a manager at some point. Starting with these jobs and many more in the criteria will allow you to gain experience as well as responsible.

I look forward for your reply and i hope you got my point and i gave your the advise you were looking for.

Best Regards

Mary

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

You clearly recommend that Sarah get a job and address all three requested points: you explain why college may not suit her, give reasons to work, and suggest receptionist, sales, and waitress roles. The advice about college costs and peer pressure is relevant, and you connect employment with experience and personal development. However, some ideas are asserted rather than fully explained: for example, the claim that college students are easily influenced and may “ruin your life” is broad and would be more convincing with a specific reason linked to Sarah. The job benefits could also be developed with practical details, such as earning an income or learning workplace skills. The response covers the task well overall, but not every point is equally developed.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The letter has a clear overall structure: an opening recommendation, separate paragraphs for the college drawbacks and job benefits, a paragraph of suitable roles, and a closing. This makes the progression easy to follow. You also use linking expressions such as “Another reason,” “Therefore,” and “because” to show relationships between ideas. At times, however, the connections feel mechanical or the references are unclear. For instance, “looking at all this negative impacts that this will make” does not clearly identify what “this” refers to, and the final paragraph repeats “jobs” and “this jobs.” A more natural sequence of ideas and clearer references would make the cohesion more flexible and polished.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use enough vocabulary to communicate the advice and discuss education and work, including “peer pressure,” “gain experience,” “developing your abilities,” and “sales representatives.” These choices show some range beyond basic everyday language. However, several noticeable word-choice, collocation, and spelling problems reduce precision: “an advise” should be “some advice,” “stressed on passing” is not a natural combination, and “outside your own comfort” needs a more complete expression such as “outside your comfort zone.” There are also spelling errors in “wll” and “respresentatives,” and “in the criteria” is unclear in this context. Aim for accurate, natural phrases and check spelling, especially in the job suggestions and closing.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and more complex sentences, using clauses with “because,” “where,” and “that,” and the main message remains understandable. Some sentence forms are controlled, such as “I would suggest that you should get a job instead of going to college.” However, errors in agreement, articles, and sentence construction recur. For example, “College student are” needs a plural noun and verb (“College students are”), while “this is the best jobs” has a singular–plural mismatch. The sentence beginning “Another reason is, the influence…” is also incomplete in its construction, and “I look forward for your reply” uses the wrong preposition pattern. Review agreement, article use, and standard sentence patterns, then proofread punctuation around introductory phrases.

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

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