Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-10-04
IELTS Writing Task 1 question
Write a letter to the local council. In your letter
- give details of how you and your friends or family use the centre
- explain why the sports and leisure centre is important for the local community
- describe the possible effects on local people if the centre closes
You do NOT need to write any addresses.
Begin your letter as follows:
Dear Sir or Madam,
Student answer (Band 6.5)
Dear Sir/ Madam,
My name is Pooja Mehra, a resident of Apex Building. Today I am writing this letter, as I heard the recent news about the closure of Local Community Centre. This community centre is our daily go to place for sports and other recreational activites, my friends and family members are so upset after hearing this news.
Furthermore, the local community centre is a common place for people of almost all age groups in the area. Elders use this area for physical activities, youngters come here to practice swimming and playing tennis on weekeds, females gather here for yoga sessions in the evening and children come here to play. Without this centre people will not have any place like this where they can take part in such activities free of cost. As a result, they will become lazy and unhealthy. Thanks to this, centre kids of our area started taking participation in physical sports instead of playing video games at home.
Therefore, the closure of community centre will impact badly on the lives of the residents in the area. I kindly request you to rethink about your decision of closing this centre. I hope to hear back from you soon.
Thank you for your support and assistance.
Kind regards,
Pooja Mehra
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 7.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 7.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 6.0 |
| Overall | 6.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.0
The response successfully addresses all parts of the prompt. You clearly explain how your family and friends use the centre, mentioning swimming, tennis, yoga, and children's activities. You also highlight why the facility is important for the community by bringing different age groups together, and you vividly describe the negative effects of closure, such as residents becoming inactive. Your position is clear throughout, and the ideas are extended and supported, fitting the criteria well. However, there is a slight tendency to overgeneralise when claiming people will universally become lazy, which prevents the score from reaching a higher level. To push into higher bands, ensure that all projected consequences are nuanced and supported with slightly deeper, more balanced justifications.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 7.0
Your letter demonstrates a clear logical organisation and progression throughout. You begin with an appropriate salutation and a clear statement of purpose, move smoothly into your body paragraphs detailing usage and consequences, and close with a polite call to action and standard sign-off. Cohesive devices are used reasonably well, such as 'Furthermore', 'As a result', and 'Therefore', which guide the reader naturally through your arguments. Paragraphing is used sufficiently and appropriately, separating the introduction, body arguments, and conclusion distinctly. To achieve an even higher band, you could aim for more flexible and less mechanical use of cohesive ties, ensuring that transitions between sentences flow with absolute seamlessness rather than relying on standard linking words.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.5
The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, providing a sufficient range for you to communicate your message clearly. You make attempts at less common items and phrasing, such as 'recreational activites' and 'physical sports'. However, there are noticeable spelling and word-choice errors that prevent a higher score, such as 'activites' (spelling), 'youngters' (spelling), 'weekeds' (spelling), and the unnatural collocation 'impact badly on'. Additionally, phrasing like 'daily go to place' lacks hyphens or precision. To improve this score, focus on eliminating basic spelling mistakes, refining your word choices for greater naturalness, and ensuring accurate collocations.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0
You demonstrate a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, incorporating relative clauses and conditional structures such as 'Without this centre people will not have any place like this where they can take part...'. There are some errors in grammar and punctuation, including a comma splice in the introduction ('Today I am writing this letter, as I heard...') and missing articles or prepositions in sentences like 'Thanks to this, centre kids of our area started taking participation'. Despite these errors, they rarely impede communication, and you maintain a reasonable level of control over basic sentence patterns. To reach a higher band, you need to incorporate a wider variety of complex structures with greater frequency and ensure error-free punctuation, particularly regarding commas and relative clauses.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
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