Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 6.0 · 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 6.0)
Dear Mr and Mrse Collins
I hope you are doing well. I got your invitation to attend the surprise birthday party for Chris. When I read the surprise party, I were really happy because Chris loves surprises. Since his childhood, he always wished for surprise parties. however, you were abroad to arrange those kind of parties for him. Now, you both moved to your own town, he will be going to overjoy from this surprise party. Unfortunately, I have to tell you that I will not be able to attend the birthday party. I know that Chris will going to miss me and I am really eager if I can joy. But I have Doctor's Appointment for my mother treatment. You are aware about her cancer and my father is working abroad. Therefore, I have to take of mother. However, I will plan to see Chris next month when my father will come home for vacation. Then, I will give him surprise visit with his belated Birthdays gifts. I hope you will understand my situation. Say happy birthday to Chris from my side. Lots of love
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 7.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 6.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 6.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0
You have successfully addressed all three bullet points in the prompt. You clearly explained why Chris would enjoy the party, provided a valid reason for your absence, and proposed a concrete plan to meet him later. The tone is appropriate for a letter to a friend's parents, maintaining a polite and personal register throughout. The ideas are relevant and well-developed, ensuring the reader understands your situation and your intentions. To reach a higher band, ensure that your explanations are slightly more polished, as some phrasing, such as 'I am really eager if I can joy', is slightly unclear and impacts the overall clarity of your message.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0
The letter follows a logical progression, moving smoothly from the invitation to your regretful decline and finally to your future plans. You use basic cohesive devices like 'However', 'Therefore', and 'Unfortunately' to link your ideas. However, the paragraphing is insufficient; the entire body of the letter is presented as a single block of text. To improve, you should use clear paragraph breaks to separate the different sections of your letter—specifically, one for the reason you cannot attend and another for your alternative plan. This would make the structure much more professional and easier to follow.
Lexical Resource — Band 6.0
You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for this task, using words like 'invitation', 'treatment', and 'belated' correctly. There are some minor errors in word choice and collocation, such as 'going to overjoy' (should be 'overjoyed') and 'give him surprise visit' (should be 'give him a surprise visit'). While these errors do not impede communication, they show a need for more precise control over word forms and articles. Expanding your vocabulary to include more natural collocations would help you move into a higher band.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
You attempt a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, which is good. However, there are frequent grammatical errors that affect the accuracy of your writing. Examples include 'I were really happy' (subject-verb agreement), 'you were abroad to arrange' (tense error), and 'I have to take of mother' (missing object/preposition). Additionally, there are punctuation errors, such as the spelling of 'Mrse' and the inconsistent use of capitalization. While the meaning remains clear, the frequency of these errors suggests that you need to focus on proofreading your work for basic grammatical accuracy and sentence construction.
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.