Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · 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 6.0)

Dear Mr Collins,

I hope you are well. I am writing this letter to express my gratitude for inviting me on this birthday party. It has been ages and ages since we meet up with each other. After a couple of years, this milestone would be memorable because of excessive excitement they would have to meet you after a long period of time. I ordered a special cake for you along with some of the suspicious gifts. I have been planning to oragnise the whole event for the last two years, I think you will like the arrangements.

I am wholeheartedly apologize for my absence due to prior work commitments that coincide with this plan. I must extend my apologies because I got an urgent booking from one of our relatuves. So, I am unable to become the part of this special moment.

I am truly disappointed with inconvenience that may cause you. It would be grateful if you could let me know the alternative dates that work for you, I will catch up for a lunch or coffee. I am available in next week anytime and please let me know the prefered location for the upcoming meeting.

I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Yours faithfully,

Gurdeep Singh

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

You have addressed all three bullet points required by the task. You explained why Chris would enjoy the party, provided a reason for your absence, and suggested an alternative time to meet. However, there are significant issues with task fulfillment regarding the recipient. The prompt asks you to write to Chris's parents, but you addressed the letter to 'Mr Collins' (singular) and then referred to 'you' as if you were speaking to Chris himself (e.g., 'I ordered a special cake for you'). This creates confusion about who the intended reader is, which impacts the clarity of your response.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The letter is organized into clear paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the structure of your response. You use some cohesive devices, such as 'However' or 'I am writing this letter to', but some transitions feel mechanical or slightly unnatural. For instance, the jump from discussing the party to mentioning a cake for 'you' (Chris) is jarring. The progression of ideas is generally logical, but the inconsistent addressing of the parents versus the friend makes the overall flow feel disjointed at times. Improving the consistency of your tone and address would enhance the coherence significantly.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using phrases like 'wholeheartedly apologize' and 'prior work commitments'. However, there are several instances of awkward word choice and collocation errors. For example, 'suspicious gifts' is likely a misuse of the word 'suspicious' (which implies something untrustworthy), and 'excessive excitement' is not the best collocation for a birthday party. Additionally, there are spelling errors such as 'oragnise', 'relatuves', and 'prefered'. These errors do not completely impede communication, but they do limit the precision of your writing.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, which is appropriate for this task. However, there are frequent grammatical errors that affect the accuracy of your writing. Examples include 'inviting me on this birthday party' (should be 'to'), 'since we meet up' (should be 'since we met'), and 'disappointed with inconvenience' (should be 'disappointed with the inconvenience'). There are also issues with subject-verb agreement and article usage. While these errors rarely prevent the reader from understanding your message, they are frequent enough to prevent a higher band score.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.