Band 7.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 7.0 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-09-01

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 7.0)

Dear Mr and Mrs Collins,

Thank you very much for inviting me to chris's surprise birthday party. I am delighted to hear that you are organizing this event for him.

I am sure Chris thorougly enjoy the surprise party because he loves spending time with friends and family. He is very sociable person and enjoy spending enjoys celebration. Since he has been quite busy with work recently, I believe gathering will be a wonderful opportunity for him to relax and have fun with people who are important for him.

Unfortunately, I will be unable to attend the party because I have a planned business trip for same weekend. My employer require me to travel another city for an important meeting, and I already commited to attending it. I am very disappointed to miss the celebration, especially because it sounds like a memorable occasion.

However, I already made plan to see Chris following weekend. We are planning to meet for lunch at his favourite place and spend afternoon together. I have also bought a gift for him, which I will give him when we meet. This will allow me to celebrate his birthday personally.

I hope the party is a great sucess and chris will enjoy a quality time with their loved ones.

Yours sincerely,

Neel Mistry.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.5

The letter successfully addresses all three bullet points required by the prompt. You clearly explain why Chris would enjoy the surprise, provide a logical reason for your absence, and propose a concrete plan to meet him later. The tone is appropriate for a letter to a friend's parents, maintaining a polite and appreciative register throughout. The ideas are well-developed and relevant to the context of a surprise birthday party. To reach a higher band, ensure that all minor details, such as the timing of the alternative meeting, are fully integrated into the narrative flow.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The letter is logically organized with a clear introduction, body paragraphs for each point, and a polite closing. Paragraphing is used effectively to separate the different topics. You use cohesive devices such as 'Unfortunately', 'However', and 'Since' to link ideas. While the flow is generally smooth, there are some minor issues with referencing, such as 'their loved ones' at the end, which is slightly confusing as it refers to Chris (singular). Improving the precision of pronoun references would enhance the overall cohesion of the text.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.5

You demonstrate a sufficient range of vocabulary to convey your message clearly. Phrases like 'memorable occasion' and 'quality time' are used appropriately. However, there are some minor errors in word choice and collocation, such as 'I already made plan' (should be 'made a plan') and 'great sucess' (spelling error). Additionally, 'enjoys celebration' is not a natural collocation. To improve, focus on using more precise collocations and ensure consistent spelling. The vocabulary is adequate for the task but lacks the sophistication required for higher bands.

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 several grammatical slips, such as 'Chris thorougly enjoy' (missing auxiliary verb 'will'), 'He is very sociable person' (missing article 'a'), and 'My employer require me' (subject-verb agreement error). While these errors do not impede communication, they are frequent enough to prevent a higher score. Paying closer attention to subject-verb agreement and article usage during your final proofreading would significantly improve the accuracy of your writing.

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

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