Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-09-10

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 Collins,

I hope you guys are doing great. I am writing this letter in response to the invitation of Chris's surprise birthday party. I honestly think this is the awesome idea for making his birthday more memorable, special and enjoyable. Though he was so occupied in completing bachelors and achieving remarkable grades, this will aid him in rejuvenation and freshening his mind after a significant stressful period of time.

Apart from this, I would have love to join you on his special but unfortunately, my booking was made way before than this as I was planning to see my parents in Philippines. Moreover, it was a while since I have saw my parents not only I was missing them but I got remarkable fair.

As we are already considering a plan of visiting Italy this summer which wille be a 7 days tour along with our other classmates. I am pretty sure he will be joining us in this of course with your pemission.

I hope you will acknowledge my current situation and accept my apologies. But, I wish him a happy birthday in advance.

Yours truly,

Amrit

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

You have addressed all three bullet points required by the task. You clearly explained why Chris would enjoy the party, provided a reason for your absence, and proposed an alternative plan to meet him. The tone is generally appropriate for a letter to a friend's parents, although it leans slightly informal in places (e.g., 'I hope you guys are doing great'). The ideas are relevant and well-developed, ensuring the reader understands your situation and your intentions clearly. To reach a higher band, ensure the tone remains consistently polite and formal enough for the context of writing to parents.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The letter is logically organized into clear paragraphs, each serving a specific purpose. You use some cohesive devices such as 'Apart from this', 'Moreover', and 'As we are already', which help the flow of ideas. However, some transitions feel slightly mechanical or forced. For instance, the connection between your trip to the Philippines and the mention of 'remarkable fair' is unclear and disrupts the flow. Improving the variety and naturalness of your linking words would enhance the overall coherence of the letter.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using words like 'rejuvenation', 'memorable', and 'occupied'. However, there are instances of awkward word choice and collocation errors, such as 'remarkable fair' (which is unclear) and 'I would have love to join' (grammatically incorrect). Additionally, 'awesome idea' is a bit informal for this context. To improve, focus on using more precise vocabulary and ensuring that collocations sound natural in a formal or semi-formal letter.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

You attempt a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is generally clear, there are several grammatical errors that persist throughout the text. Examples include 'I would have love to join' (should be 'would have loved'), 'booking was made way before than this' (should be 'earlier than this'), 'since I have saw' (should be 'since I saw'), and 'wille be' (spelling error). These errors occur frequently enough to occasionally distract the reader, though they do not impede overall communication.

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

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