Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-08-18

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 hope this email finds you well. I am excited that you invited me to Chris birthday celebration. I can think of all the fun beforehand people are gonna have at his party.

I clearly remember, when I was in Perth during our graduation day we both used to enjoy our time together. He always had a habit to surprise people on their big days by bringing gifts. Such a lovely gesture from him makes him different from others. I can imagine who plan surprise events from other, how would he feel over the moon, when he finds out his parents have arranged a surprise event for him.

With due to heavy heart, I am afraid to say that I won't be able to make it this time because after completing my college, I received a good full-time work opportunity in Sydney, and during his birthday time, delegates are coming from United state for launching a new product. Therefore, my manager won't be happy if I leave the meetings with them.

With that being said, I think once I will finish my work, I have already booked my tickets to fly there in last week of may this year. I have some interesting plans arranged such as dirt biking. I know he is an adventurous person. He will surely like this idea.

Please take care of yourselves, I can't wait to meet him soon.

Best regards,

Gaurav

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

You have successfully addressed all three bullet points in the prompt. You clearly explained why Chris would enjoy the surprise, provided a valid reason for your absence, and proposed a concrete plan to meet him later. The tone is appropriate for a letter to a friend's parents, maintaining a polite and friendly register throughout. The ideas are well-developed and relevant to the context of the task. To reach a higher band, ensure that your explanations are slightly more concise, as some sentences, such as the one describing Chris's reaction to the surprise, are a bit convoluted and could be expressed more naturally.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The letter is logically organized into clear paragraphs, each serving a specific purpose. You use some cohesive devices like 'With that being said' and 'Therefore' to link your ideas. However, some transitions feel slightly mechanical or forced. For example, the transition between the memory of Perth and the surprise event is a bit abrupt. Additionally, the referencing in the second paragraph ('who plan surprise events from other') is unclear and affects the flow of the argument. Improving the variety of linking words and ensuring that pronouns clearly refer back to their antecedents would enhance the overall coherence of your writing.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using phrases like 'full-time work opportunity' and 'adventurous person'. However, there are several instances of awkward phrasing and word choice errors, such as 'With due to heavy heart' (should be 'With a heavy heart') and 'beforehand people' (which is unclear). You also use 'delegates are coming from United state' (should be 'the United States'). While these errors do not impede communication, they indicate a need for more precise control over collocations and idiomatic expressions to move into the higher band range.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

You attempt a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, which is good. However, there are frequent grammatical errors throughout the text. Examples include 'Chris birthday celebration' (missing possessive 's'), 'He always had a habit to surprise' (should be 'habit of surprising'), and 'once I will finish my work' (should be 'once I finish'). There are also issues with article usage and prepositional phrases. While the meaning remains clear, the frequency of these minor errors prevents the writing from reaching a higher band. Focusing on subject-verb agreement and correct preposition usage will significantly improve your accuracy.

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

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