Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

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

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

You do NOT need to write any addresses.

Begin your letter as follows:

Dear ................. ,

Student answer (Band 5.5)

Dear Satnam,

I hope you are doing well.Congratulations for completing the higher study. I saw your letter in which you asked for advise.

I would recommend that you shold do Job rather than college. Because, you need to provide around 2 years in study which might be time consumming and you will not able to start income , If you start college.

On the other hand, getting job is a good idea for you where you can use the skills which ou learn from accounting and management class. Also, you will get the real word experience which improve your resume for getting better jobs.I will suggest that you have certificate in management and accounting field you should apply for accountant, cash management ,back office staff and so much more. In this job you are able to use your skill as well as this are the high paying job for freshers. Thus, this job would be suitable for you.

Thank you for time and consideration.

Best wishes,

Devvrat chavda

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response5.5
Coherence and Cohesion6.0
Lexical Resource5.5
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.0
Overall5.5

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You give a clear recommendation to seek work rather than attend college, and you address all three requested points. The reasons are relevant: college would take time before your friend could earn, while a job would provide practical experience and strengthen a résumé. You also suggest several suitable roles, including accountant and back-office staff. However, the explanation of why your friend would not enjoy college is limited: you focus mainly on the time involved, rather than explaining what aspects of studying may not suit them. The job benefits and role suggestions are also asserted more than developed. Add personal reasons linked to your friend’s preferences and explain how particular roles match their skills.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The letter has a generally clear sequence: greeting and context, advice against college, reasons to work, suggested roles, and a closing. Paragraphing helps distinguish the main points, and transitions such as “On the other hand” and “Thus” make the direction easy to follow. Some connections are mechanical or unclear, however. “Because” begins a sentence fragment after your recommendation, and the shift from the friend’s accounting and management skills to a list of jobs could be explained more smoothly. The closing also feels abrupt after the job advice. Use complete sentences and clearer links between each skill, the relevant role, and the benefit it offers.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use enough task-related vocabulary to communicate the main advice, including “real world experience,” “resume,” “accounting,” and “cash management.” The range is adequate for a personal letter, but several spelling and word-choice errors are noticeable and sometimes make the message less natural. For example, “advise” should be “advice,” “time consumming” should be “time-consuming,” and “high paying job” would be more naturally expressed as “well-paid positions.” Some phrases are vague or awkward, such as “and so much more” and “provide around 2 years in study.” Choose precise expressions and check spelling and collocations; this will make your advice sound more fluent and convincing.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex structures, including “I would recommend that…” and a sentence explaining how work could improve your friend’s résumé. However, errors occur frequently, and some sentences are difficult to process. “Because, you need to provide around 2 years in study” is an incomplete construction; “you will not able to start income” is missing “be” and uses an unclear structure; and “this are the high paying job” has agreement and number errors. There are also punctuation and spacing problems, such as “well.Congratulations” and “jobs.I.” Practise building complete sentences, checking subject–verb agreement, and using articles and verb forms accurately. A careful final proofread would catch many of these issues.

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.