Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-09-02

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 6.5)

Dear Mr and Mrs Thapa,

I hope this letter finds you in a good health. I am thrilled to know about that you are invited me to attend Chris ' surprise birthday celebration.

As you know Chris and me were friends from childhood and i know about his lifestyle and preferences. I think it would be a great gift for him.

However, i want to tell you that i have booked my English language testing system exam for my permanent residency in Canada. It will take place after one day of his birthday. As, i want around 8 bands in that exam which means i have to study bit harder to crack that. I would like to apologize for that i would not be able to attend that celebration with you.

I promise when i will achieve my desired results in my exam i will come to your place and organize a party for Chris at my cost next month. It would be a great fun for him and you.

I will send the gift for Chris along with my letter .I hope he will understand and accept my greets.

Yours lovingly,

Sayam

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

You have successfully addressed all three bullet points required by the task. You explained why Chris would enjoy the party, provided a clear reason for your absence (the IELTS exam), and proposed a concrete plan to meet him later. The tone is appropriate for a letter to a friend's parents, although there is a slight inconsistency in the name (you addressed Mr and Mrs Thapa but the prompt specified Mr and Mrs Collins). The ideas are relevant and well-developed, ensuring the reader understands your situation and your intentions clearly.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The letter is logically organized with clear paragraph breaks for each section of the task. You use some cohesive devices, such as 'However' and 'As', to link your ideas. However, the flow is occasionally interrupted by minor errors in sentence structure and punctuation, such as the awkward phrasing in 'As, i want around 8 bands'. While the progression of ideas is easy to follow, the use of cohesive devices could be more varied and natural to achieve a higher band score. Overall, the structure is sufficient to communicate your message effectively.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using phrases like 'thrilled to know', 'permanent residency', and 'preferences'. There are some minor errors in word choice and collocation, such as 'in a good health' (should be 'in good health') and 'accept my greets' (should be 'accept my greetings'). You also use 'crack that' which is slightly informal for this context. While these errors do not impede communication, they indicate a need for more precise control over common collocations and formal expressions.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

You attempt a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are several grammatical errors, particularly with articles ('the English language testing system exam'), subject-verb agreement ('you are invited me'), and pronoun usage ('Chris and me'). Additionally, there are punctuation errors, such as the space before the comma in 'Chris ' surprise' and 'birthday .I'. While you can convey your meaning, the frequency of these errors prevents the writing from being considered highly accurate. Focusing on basic sentence construction and proofreading for small slips will help improve your score.

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

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