Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-08-22
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. & Mrs. Williams,
I was delighted to receive your letter, for the surprise birthday party of my best friend Chris. It's been a really long time since, I have met him.
From your invitation, I am thinking that he would like the surpirsed birthday theme and would be very much excited as well , beacuse I am excited to hear, the stories later.
I would like to inform you that, I won't be able to attend the party.Due to university exams and unfortunately cannot skip them. Thus, it will be nearly impossible for me to visit for his birthday event.
Therefore, I would prefer to visit Chris next month, when my exams ended and the semster breaks starts.It would be more coneveniet to come then as I will have more time to spend with your son. I am planning to take him for a short term to vietnam as well for a week later as well.
So, kindly accept my apologies for not coming Chris birthday party. But will surely made it up to him next month.
Your Sincerely,
Regards,
Parker Emerson
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 6.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 6.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 6.0 |
| Overall | 6.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5
You have addressed all three bullet points required by the task. You explained why Chris would enjoy the party, provided a clear reason for your absence, and proposed a concrete plan to meet him later. The tone is generally appropriate for a letter to a friend's parents, although the opening and closing salutations are slightly inconsistent (addressing 'Mr. & Mrs. Williams' while the prompt specified 'Mr. and Mrs. Collins'). The ideas are relevant and well-developed, ensuring the reader understands your situation and your intentions clearly. To improve, ensure you strictly follow the prompt's instructions regarding names and maintain a consistent, polite tone throughout.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0
The letter is logically organized into paragraphs, each focusing on a specific point of the prompt. There is a clear progression of ideas from the initial thanks to the explanation of absence and the future plan. You have used some cohesive devices such as 'Therefore' and 'However' (implied), though the flow could be improved with more varied transition words. Some sentences are slightly disjointed due to punctuation errors, such as the comma usage in 'It's been a really long time since, I have met him.' Improving the use of linking words and refining punctuation will help the text flow more naturally.
Lexical Resource — Band 6.0
You have an adequate range of vocabulary to convey your message effectively. You use some good phrases like 'delighted to receive' and 'impossible for me to visit'. However, there are several spelling errors, such as 'surpirsed', 'beacuse', 'coneveniet', and 'semster'. Additionally, some word choices are slightly awkward, such as 'take him for a short term to vietnam'. While these errors do not impede communication, they do limit the score. Focusing on proofreading for spelling and using more precise collocations will help you reach a higher band.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0
You demonstrate a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While you successfully use complex sentences, there are frequent errors in punctuation and grammar, such as the comma splice in 'It's been a really long time since, I have met him' and the incorrect verb tense in 'when my exams ended'. The phrase 'will surely made it up to him' contains a tense error (should be 'will surely make'). Despite these errors, the meaning remains clear throughout the letter. To improve, focus on subject-verb agreement and correct tense usage, particularly when discussing future plans.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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