Band 7.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 7.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-07-26

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 7.5)

Dear Mr and Mrs Collins,

I hope you are doing well. I am writing to thank you for inviting me to the surprise birthday party for Chris.

I am pretty sure that he will be flabbergasted by his interest in surprises. Moreover, he is eagerly waiting for August 29, 2026. He can meet you, relatives, and close friends to spend time with them and capture those moments.

Unfortunately, I will not be able to attend the day due to pre-commitments towards my work. More specifically, one of an international clients will be coming on the same day for the finalization of future projects, and it is important to me to meet him.

However, after that, I will take a flight to Australia to meet you and Chris on September 1, 2026. Then, if Chris is free from work, most probably we will go to Sydney to spend a week there hiking, trekking, and to his favorite cafe. I hope he will enjoy it there.

Thanks for inviting, and sorry once again for not coming. I hope you all will enjoy the party.

Yours faithfully,

Shilpa Shilpa

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 8.5

You have successfully addressed all three bullet points in the prompt. You clearly explained why Chris would enjoy the party, provided a valid reason for your absence, and proposed a concrete alternative plan to meet him. The tone is appropriate for a letter to a friend's parents, maintaining a polite and friendly register throughout. The ideas are relevant and well-developed, ensuring the reader understands your situation and your intentions. No parts of the task were omitted, and the purpose of the letter is clear from the beginning.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 8.0

The letter is logically organized with a clear progression of ideas. Each paragraph focuses on a specific aspect of the task, which helps the reader follow your narrative easily. You use cohesive devices such as 'Moreover', 'Unfortunately', and 'However' to link your sentences and paragraphs effectively. The paragraphing is appropriate for a formal/semi-formal letter. While the flow is generally smooth, ensure that transitions between sentences remain natural to avoid a slightly mechanical feel in some places.

Lexical Resource — Band 7.0

You demonstrate a good range of vocabulary, such as 'flabbergasted', 'pre-commitments', and 'finalization'. However, there are some minor inaccuracies in word choice and collocation. For example, 'flabbergasted by his interest in surprises' is slightly unnatural; 'flabbergasted by the surprise' would be more accurate. Additionally, 'one of an international clients' contains a grammatical error in the noun phrase. Despite these minor slips, your vocabulary is sufficient to convey your message clearly and with some degree of precision.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.5

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, which is good. However, there are several grammatical errors that occur throughout the text. For instance, 'one of an international clients' should be 'one of my international clients', and 'to his favorite cafe' lacks a verb (e.g., 'to visit his favorite cafe'). There is also a slight issue with article usage and prepositional phrases. While these errors do not impede communication, they are frequent enough to prevent a higher score in this criterion. Focusing on subject-verb agreement and article usage will help improve your accuracy.

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