Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-09-13

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

A large company in your area has decided to spend a certain amount of money, either to sponsor a local children's sports team for two years, or to pay for two open-air concerts. It has asked for feedback from the general public.

Write a letter to the company. In your letter

• describe the benefits of sponsoring the sports team
• summarise the benefits of paying for the concerts
• say how you think the company should spend the money

You do NOT need to write any addresses.

Begin your letter as follows:

Dear Sir or Madam,

Student answer (Band 6.5)

Dear Sir or Madam,

I am writing to provide feedback for your company's decision to sponsor a local children's sports team for two years or to invest in two open-air concerts.

To begin with, I appreciate your decision to allocate money to a good cause. I would say that sponsoring the sports team offers several advantages. Investing in sports will not only allow children to develop their skills but also enhance cooperation among young residents. Furthermore, if you plan to invest money on concerts, I believe it will enable a large number of individuals to experience different cultures and provide them a chance to explore new music. This may, in turn, promote social harmony and strengthen a healthy relationships within the community. Nevertheless, I believe it is better to invest a certain amount of money in local children to learn sports. Learning sports at an early age has significant benefits, as they can train themselves to participate and later represent themselves at international sporting events.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Yours faithfully, Payal Bhakta

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The candidate successfully covers all bullet points required by the task prompt. The letter begins by acknowledging the company's dilemma and addresses the first bullet point by clearly describing the benefits of sponsoring the sports team, noting that it allows children to develop skills and enhance cooperation. The second bullet point is also effectively addressed by summarising the benefits of the open-air concerts, such as experiencing different cultures and promoting social harmony. Finally, the candidate clearly states a personal recommendation on how the money should be spent by choosing the children's sports team. The position is maintained throughout the letter and ideas are adequately supported, aligning well with the Band 7 descriptors for Task Achievement.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The letter maintains a clear and appropriate formal tone and follows a logical overall organisation. The response opens with a standard formal salutation and concludes correctly. Cohesive devices such as 'To begin with', 'Furthermore', and 'Nevertheless' are used to connect ideas, though the paragraphing is somewhat compressed since the body of the letter is contained within a single large paragraph. Despite this, information and ideas are logically sequenced and progression is clear throughout. The referencing and paragraph structure prevent this criterion from reaching higher bands, but the performance fits comfortably within the Band 6.5 to 7.0 range, warranting a score of 7.0.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The candidate demonstrates an adequate and appropriate lexical resource for a general letter task. There is a sufficient range of vocabulary used with some flexibility and precision, such as 'allocate money', 'social harmony', and 'international sporting events'. Less common lexical items are attempted with general success, although there is a minor collocation slip near the end of the text with the phrase 'a healthy relationships', where the indefinite article does not agree with the plural noun. Spelling is accurate throughout, and vocabulary choices are natural enough to allow smooth communication, earning a solid Band 6.5 rounded to 6.5 or fully supporting Band 7.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.5

The writer uses a good mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating control over subordinate clauses and conditional structures, as seen in 'if you plan to invest money on concerts, I believe it will enable...'. There are frequent error-free sentences, alongside a few minor mechanical slips, such as the grammatical error 'strengthen a healthy relationships' (article and number disagreement) and a slight preposition awkwardness in 'invest money on concerts' rather than 'in concerts'. Punctuation is generally accurate and sentence structures contribute to clear communication. The variety of complex structures and overall control place this submission securely at Band 7.0.

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

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