Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-08-08

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 6.5)

Dear Mr and Mrs Collins,

I am writing this letter to you to say thank you for your kindest invitation for Chris's surprise birthday party.

I am sure he will enjoy his birthday as he is turning eighteen this year. Moreover, he mentioned to me earlier that he is looking for celebrate his birthday party. He will be over the moon as I know he loves surprises.

Unfortunately, I will not able to attend this event as I recently joined a new job and I am on probation period. I have some suggestions for you for surpise him. For the decoration, set his room with spiderman theme as he crazy fan of that movie. I will order a cake for him with the present as it will be his special day.

Moreover, on this summer break I will definately visit him and we all make some vacation plans to go out of the town.

Thank you so much again for the invitation and I am looking forward to see you soon.

Kind regards,

Pragati

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

You have addressed all three bullet points required by the prompt. You clearly explain why Chris will enjoy the party, state your inability to attend due to work commitments, and propose a future meeting. The tone is appropriate for a letter to a friend's parents. However, the development of ideas is somewhat basic. For instance, the suggestion to decorate the room with a 'Spiderman theme' is a bit specific and perhaps less relevant to an eighteen-year-old than a more general suggestion. To reach a higher band, ensure your ideas are fully extended with more natural phrasing.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The letter is logically organized with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a closing. You use basic cohesive devices such as 'Moreover', 'Unfortunately', and 'Thank you so much again' to link your ideas. While the progression is clear, the use of cohesive devices is somewhat mechanical. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the different points of the letter. To improve, try to vary your linking words and ensure that the transition between your inability to attend and your suggestion for the party is smoother.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, such as 'over the moon', 'probation period', and 'invitation'. There are some minor errors in word choice and collocation, such as 'looking for celebrate' (should be 'looking forward to celebrating') and 'surpise him' (spelling error). You also use 'crazy fan', which is slightly informal. While the vocabulary is sufficient to convey your meaning clearly, it lacks the precision and flexibility required for higher bands. Focus on using more natural collocations and checking your spelling.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are several grammatical errors, such as 'I will not able to' (missing 'be'), 'he crazy fan' (missing 'is a'), and 'looking forward to see' (should be 'looking forward to seeing'). These errors do not impede communication, but they are frequent enough to prevent a higher score. You have a good grasp of basic tenses, but you should focus on ensuring subject-verb agreement and the correct use of infinitives and gerunds after specific phrases.

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

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