Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-11-10

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

The parents of your Australian friend Chris have invited you to a surprise birthday party for him/her. Write a letter to Chris's parents. In your letter:

• say why you think Chris will enjoy the surprise party
• explain why you won't be able to attend the party
• give details of a plan to see Chris at a different time

You do NOT need to write any addresses.

Begin your letter as follows:

Dear Mr and Mrs Collins,

Student answer (Band 5.5)

Dear Mr and Mrs Collins,

Hi how is Chris today? I hope he are doing well I am writing to you both MR and Mrs Collins regarding to the surprise party for my best friend Chris.

First of all I want to Thank you for invite me in the birhday party. I think Chirs will be very happy to his birthday since he love surprises and also he enjoy expending time with his family and friend.

Unfortunately I cannot join to the celebration because of my schedule I have full workload that day I am very dissapointed about that. I need to finish my job.

However me and chris have a plan to continue his birthday party and celebrate in another day we planning to go in mall and eat together with old friends. I hope Chris understand may situation and please tell him happy birthday.

Sencerly yours,

Kenneth

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You address all three required points: you say Chris enjoys surprises and time with family and friends, explain that work prevents you from attending, and suggest celebrating with old friends another day. However, these ideas are brief and not fully developed. The alternative plan is vague: “go in mall and eat together” does not say when you hope to meet or make clear whether this is already agreed with Chris. The opening and closing are present, but the letter’s purpose could be expressed more clearly and politely. The response is also one word below the required minimum, so it does not meet the length instruction. Add a specific proposed date or time and a little more detail about why Chris will enjoy the event.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The letter has a coherent overall arrangement: you begin with a greeting, explain why Chris may enjoy the party, give your reason for declining, and then propose another celebration. Paragraph breaks help the reader follow these stages, and transitions such as “First of all,” “Unfortunately,” and “However” make the sequence clear. This meets the lower-band expectation of an organised response and shows some of the flexibility expected at the next level. To strengthen progression further, avoid repeating the greeting and Chris’s name in the opening, and connect the final plan more clearly to your absence. For example, state when you would like to meet and use a direct transition such as “Although I can’t attend, I’d love to celebrate with him next weekend.”

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

Your vocabulary is sufficient to communicate the main ideas, including “surprise party,” “full workload,” “celebration,” and “old friends.” However, the range is limited and several noticeable spelling, word-choice, and collocation errors reduce accuracy: “birhday,” “dissapointed,” and “Sencerly” are misspelled, while “invite me in the birthday party” and “continue his birthday party” are not natural expressions. “Expending time” also appears to be an inaccurate choice for “spending time.” These errors do not prevent the reader from understanding the message, but they make the letter less fluent. Learn common letter phrases and check spelling carefully; more precise expressions would make your meaning sound natural and appropriately warm.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You communicate the main message using mostly simple sentence patterns, with a few attempts to join ideas using “since,” “because,” and “however.” The range is limited, and errors occur frequently enough to affect the smoothness of reading. For example, “I hope he are doing well” has incorrect subject–verb agreement, while “I cannot join to the celebration” uses an incorrect preposition pattern. The sentence “I hope Chris understand may situation” also has an agreement error and an unclear possessive form. Punctuation is often missing between clauses, as in the opening lines, which creates run-on sentences. Practise accurate simple sentences first, then combine them with conjunctions, checking verb agreement, articles, and punctuation.

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

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