Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-08-27
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 5.5)
Dear Mr and Mrs Collins,
I hope you both are doing well. Thank you for inviting me on birthday party but due to some circumstances i am not able to attend birthday party. Actually i had a my mid-term examination at that particular time and i want to prepare for that therefore i will not coming, i hope you are understands that. Chris is with their family and friends and also had chance to celebrate his birthday at his hometown so i believe he is not missing me much due to great surprise of your. As i mentioned earlier i not able to attend so i apologize about that. I promise you i meet him after my examination and i already make a plan for that. After my exams i visited your place in australia in my summer vacation and surprise him.
Thank you for understands my situation and wish him a very great full birthday from my side.
Yours faithfully,
Vish
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 6.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0
You have addressed all three bullet points required by the prompt. You explained why Chris would enjoy the party, provided a reason for your absence (exams), and proposed a plan to meet him later. However, the development of these ideas is somewhat limited and repetitive. For instance, the explanation regarding why Chris will enjoy the party is a bit vague, and the phrasing regarding your absence is slightly circular. To reach a higher band, ensure that your ideas are expanded with more natural detail and that the tone remains consistently appropriate for a letter to a friend's parents.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The letter is generally easy to follow, and the progression of ideas is logical. You use basic cohesive devices such as 'Actually', 'Therefore', and 'As I mentioned earlier' to link your thoughts. However, the paragraphing is non-existent; the entire letter is written as one block of text. In IELTS writing, clear paragraphing is essential for a higher score. Additionally, some referencing is slightly confusing, such as the use of 'their' when referring to Chris, which creates a minor lack of clarity in the flow of information.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
Your vocabulary is adequate for the task but remains quite basic. You rely on simple phrases like 'doing well' and 'make a plan'. There are also some noticeable errors in word choice and collocation, such as 'great full birthday' (instead of 'wonderful' or 'fantastic') and 'inviting me on birthday party' (should be 'to the birthday party'). To improve, try to incorporate more natural collocations and avoid repetitive phrasing. The vocabulary is sufficient to convey your meaning, but it lacks the precision and variety required for higher bands.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
There are frequent grammatical errors throughout the text that occasionally impede the reader's flow. Examples include 'i had a my mid-term examination' (incorrect article usage), 'i will not coming' (incorrect verb form), and 'i visited your place' (incorrect tense for a future plan). You rely primarily on simple sentence structures, and your attempts at more complex sentences often contain errors in subject-verb agreement or tense consistency. Focusing on basic sentence accuracy and proofreading for small errors like missing articles or incorrect verb endings will significantly improve your 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.