Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-09-22

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,

Thank you for inviting me to the birthday party that you both organized to surprise my friend Chris. This surprise party will definitely bring a great joy and happiness to him. I know he love surprises especially, when planned by his loved ones.

Unfortunately, due to my workplace commitments, I cannot attend this celebration. Recently, I have been assigned with an important project and I have to complete it in a few days. I hope you can understand the situation, and I apologize for this.

However, I am travelling to Australia next month to attend my cousin's wedding. I also invited Chris to this special event to spend time and create memories together. We also planned to visit some renowned places in Australia and stay in a hotel for a week.

Once again I apologize. Thank you for your understanding.

Yours lovingly,

Raman.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

Your letter covers all three bullet points adequately: you mention why Chris will enjoy the party, explain why you cannot attend, and offer a clear alternative plan to meet up next month. However, your response has a significant drawback regarding the word count requirement. As noted in the length check, the response contains 148 words, which falls short of the minimum 150-word requirement. Consequently, a penalty must be applied to your Task Achievement score. Aside from the length issue, your tone is appropriately polite and friendly, fitting the general letter format. To achieve a higher band, ensure you carefully check your word count before submitting to meet all administrative requirements fully. Band Score: 5.5.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

Your letter demonstrates a clear overall arrangement and logical progression of ideas. You begin with an appropriate greeting, move smoothly into the reason for writing and declining the invitation, and conclude with alternative plans and a warm sign-off. Paragraphing is used sufficiently and appropriately, with each paragraph focusing on a distinct aspect of the prompt. Cohesive devices such as 'Unfortunately', 'However', and 'Once again' are used effectively to connect your ideas. Referencing is clear throughout the text, allowing the reader to follow your narrative effortlessly. Although the text is brief, the structural organisation is robust. Band Score: 7.0.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You use an adequate range of vocabulary suitable for a general letter. Phrases such as 'workplace commitments', 'important project', and 'renowned places' demonstrate an attempt to incorporate less common lexical items. However, there are a few minor lexical inaccuracies and awkward collocations. For instance, you wrote 'bring a great joy and happiness to him', where 'bring great joy and happiness' or simply 'bring him great joy' would be more natural. Additionally, you wrote 'I know he love surprises', which contains a basic grammatical/lexical error ('love' instead of 'loves'). Despite these minor flaws, your vocabulary is sufficient to communicate your message clearly. Band Score: 6.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

You demonstrate a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing relative clauses and subordinate clauses effectively (e.g., 'Thank you for inviting me to the birthday party that you both organized...'). There are, however, several grammatical errors that lower the accuracy score. As mentioned, 'I know he love surprises' suffers from a subject-verb agreement error. Furthermore, 'Recently, I have been assigned with an important project' is slightly unnatural, as 'assigned to' or 'given' is typically preferred over 'assigned with'. Punctuation is generally fine, and these errors do not impede overall communication, but they prevent you from achieving a higher band. Band Score: 6.0.

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

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