Band 7.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 7.5 · 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 7.5)

Dear Mr and Mrs Collins,

How are you? It was great to hear from you. I hope Chris and you all are doing well. I am thrilled to hear that you are planning a surprise birthday party for Chris.

As I know Crish loves surprises, and this party will bring joy and happiness on his face. It would also be a special day for him to see his friends and family together after a long time, since he spent his past few years in Europe away from his friends and families.

I would love to be part of his happiness, especially during his birthday. Unfortunately, I have an important meeting at New York on the same day. Our company is planning to launch their products in the USA, so they are sending me to present our products to our new distributors in the USA. I can’t miss the meeting, because I am a marketing Manager.

Please accept my sincere apology. I promise that I will come next month to see you all. We can enjoy some time together and go for a road trip if you all are free. Moreover, I am planning to hiking with Chris, and I heard that Australia have really good challenging spots for hiking. Please let me know about your thoughts on it.

I sent a surprise gift for Chris, and I am hoping that will be delivered on his birthday. Please write me how the party will and Chris reactions on this surprise.

I look forward to hearing back from you.

Warmly,

Parvinderjeet

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 8.0

The letter successfully addresses all three bullet points of the prompt. You clearly explain why Chris will enjoy the surprise, provide a logical reason for your absence (a work commitment in New York), and propose a concrete plan to visit later. The tone is appropriate for a letter to a friend's parents, maintaining a warm and polite register throughout. The ideas are well-developed and relevant to the context of the task. You have fully satisfied the requirements of the prompt by providing sufficient detail for each section, ensuring the reader understands your situation and your future intentions.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 8.0

The letter is logically organized with a clear progression of ideas. Each paragraph focuses on a specific aspect of the task, which helps the reader follow your narrative easily. You use a variety of cohesive devices such as 'Moreover', 'Unfortunately', and 'Since', which effectively link your sentences and paragraphs. The paragraphing is appropriate, and the opening and closing salutations are standard and correct. The flow of information is smooth, and the relationship between your inability to attend and your future plans is clearly established, making the overall structure very coherent.

Lexical Resource — Band 7.0

You demonstrate a good range of vocabulary appropriate for a semi-formal letter. Phrases like 'sincere apology', 'distributors', and 'challenging spots' show an ability to use language effectively. There are some minor errors, such as 'planning to hiking' (should be 'planning to go hiking') and 'Chris reactions' (should be 'Chris's reaction'), which are slight slips rather than a lack of range. The vocabulary is generally precise and fits the context well, allowing you to convey your message clearly and naturally without any significant strain on the reader.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.5

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures effectively. While there are some grammatical inaccuracies, such as 'at New York' (should be 'in New York'), 'Australia have' (should be 'Australia has'), and 'write me how the party will' (should be 'let me know how the party goes'), these errors do not impede communication. The majority of your sentences are clear and well-structured. You show a good command of tense usage, particularly when discussing future plans and past experiences. With more attention to subject-verb agreement and preposition usage, your accuracy would be even higher.

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

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