Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-09-21

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

During a recent plane journey, you sat next to a businessman who owns a chain of restaurants. You talked to him and he suggested that you should contact him about a possible job in one of his restaurants.

Write a letter to this businessman. In your letter

• remind him when and where you met
• tell him what kind of job you are interested in
• say why you think you would be suitable for the job

You do NOT need to write any addresses.

Begin your letter as follows:

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

Student answer (Band 6.5)

Dear Simon

I hope you are doing well. I am writing this letter to you to follow up our conversation we had in flight from Vancouver to Quebec.

I was fascinating hearing your thoughts about introducing articifical technologies in hospitality sector. The flight was eight hour long but it seems quite short because of our interested conversation.

Firstly I would like to say thank you for offering me to applying for a position in your company.

I checked the company website and realized one of the company branch is in neighborhood.

Although the location is convenient, I looked for an open positions and seems like my experience align with one of the open positions.

I have six years of experience in customer services, and I believe I can be a suitable candidate for this position.

I have applied for this position and hopefully I will work under your guidance.

Thank you.

Best Regards.

Nisha

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

The letter successfully covers all three bullet points required by the task prompt. You clearly reminded Simon of when and where you met by writing 'in flight from Vancouver to Quebec'. You specified the sector and type of job you are interested in by mentioning 'customer services' and aligning with open positions. Finally, you explained your suitability by highlighting your 'six years of experience in customer services'. The tone is appropriate for a semi-formal business follow-up letter, and the purpose of the communication is evident throughout. The ideas are relevant and well-developed, meeting the requirements for a Band 7 performance under this criterion.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The letter maintains a clear overall progression and logical organisation. Paragraphing is used to separate different thoughts, such as the initial greeting and context, the expression of gratitude, and the discussion of job suitability. You make use of basic cohesive devices like 'Firstly' and 'Although', which help guide the reader through the letter. However, some referencing and transitions feel slightly mechanical or abrupt, such as shifting rapidly between checking the website and discussing your experience. Overall, the structure is coherent and easy to follow, supporting a Band 6.5 or solid Band 6 score.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

Your vocabulary is adequate for the task, successfully conveying your message about employment and past conversation. You attempt some less common vocabulary items such as 'hospitality sector', 'convenient', and 'suitable candidate'. However, there are noticeable word choice and collocation inaccuracies throughout the text, such as 'in flight' instead of 'on a flight', 'fascinating' instead of 'fascinated', 'articifical' instead of 'artificial', and 'interested conversation' instead of 'interesting conversation'. Despite these occasional errors, communication is never impeded, placing your lexical performance firmly within the Band 6 descriptor.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

You demonstrate a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing structures with 'although' and relative clauses. However, there are several grammatical errors and awkward phrasings present, including 'follow up our conversation we had' (missing preposition), 'The flight was eight hour long' (missing plural 'hours'), 'offering me to applying' (incorrect infinitive/gerund form after offering), and 'one of the company branch' (missing plural 'branches'). While these errors do not impede overall communication and you achieve some error-free sentences, the frequency of slips prevents you from reaching a higher band, making Band 6 appropriate.

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

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