Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-09-19
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 Mrs Collins,
I hope this letter will find you happiest and healthiest. My purpose of writing this letter is to inform that i could be able to come in Chris's birthday part for my personal reason. I hope you will understand and make this day special for Chris without letting him feel my absense.
I am exteremly happy with you idea of celebrfating him birthday of the beach as he had dreamt about this for a long period of this time and inviting all of his friend will really make him feel special. Having a three layer cake for him feels like cherry on a cake as we all know his obsession with deserts. Your celebration idea seems perfect to me and as much as i know Chris we would be happier than ever before.
Unfortunatly, my grandfather has a knee transplant a day before Chris's birthday and then we will be hospitalized for a couple of week, that is why it seems next to impossible for me to leave my grandfather in this sitution as taking care of him is also my responsibility and wil make it easier for me to lend a helping hand with him medication.
Once my grandfather comes back home, i will have a belated celeration as my place and my mother is planning a dinner invitation for this and feel i can make it next month probably.
I hope you will get my condition and forgive me for not being able to there.
Take care,
Reema
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 6.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 6.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5
The response covers all three bullet points required by the task. You successfully explain why Chris will enjoy the surprise party by mentioning his love for the beach and his obsession with desserts. You also explain why you cannot attend due to your grandfather's medical situation and surgery. Finally, you provide details of a plan to see Chris at a later time through a belated celebration dinner hosted by your mother next month. The tone is appropriate for a semi-formal letter to friends of a friend, and the purpose of the communication is clearly fulfilled throughout. However, minor development could be extended further to achieve a higher band, but all core functions are adequately and clearly addressed.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0
The letter has a clear overall progression and is divided into logical paragraphs that handle distinct parts of the prompt. You use some cohesive devices such as 'unfortunatly', 'that is why', and 'once my grandfather comes back home' to connect ideas. However, referencing and transitions are at times slightly mechanical or repetitive, such as starting multiple sentences with 'I hope'. Paragraphing is generally used sufficiently and appropriately, but sentence structures within paragraphs occasionally lack smoother flowing links between clauses, leading to minor faults in cohesive management.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully attempting less common items such as 'obsession', 'belated celebration', and 'responsibility'. However, there are several spelling and word-choice errors throughout the text, including 'happiest and healthiest' (an unnatural greeting style), 'part' instead of 'party', 'absense', 'exteremly', 'idea' spelled as 'iudea/you idea', 'celebrfating', 'deserts' (instead of desserts), and 'sitution'. While these errors do not severely impede overall communication because the context remains clear, they prevent the lexical score from reaching a higher band due to their frequency.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
You demonstrate a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, incorporating relative and subordinate clauses such as 'as he had dreamt about this for a long period of this time' and 'Once my grandfather comes back home, i will have a belated celeration'. However, there are frequent grammatical and punctuation errors, including lower-case 'i' pronouns, punctuation omissions, and awkward phrasing such as 'inform that i could be able to come in Chris's birthday part'. There are also tense and preposition slips, for instance, 'celebrfating him birthday of the beach' instead of 'celebrating his birthday on the beach'. These errors occasionally distract the reader, placing the grammar comfortably in the mid-range band.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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