Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-09-25
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 both are doing well. First of all, I am very happy that you personally wrote me a letter to surprise chris on his upcoming birthday and as we know chris would love surprise parties, Moreover, to make his birthday special we can organize a big party in five star hotel. To add more, Last christmas i surprised chris with his favourite toy and he got so happy. So there is no doubt he would not like surprise party.
Although, This year i won't able to attend this celebration as i am going on family trip which were already decided and sadly i am not able to change my flight ticket as it is non refundable. But i promise you i will visit chris right after i come back from my texas trip. Furthermore, As i won't be able to attend party please wish him on behalf of me and tell him i will meet him soon.
Once again thank you so much for the invite. I look forward to you response see you soon.
Love,
Suhani Jingar
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 7.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 6.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 6.0 |
| Overall | 6.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.0
The response covers all three bullet points from the prompt effectively. You appropriately explain why Chris will enjoy the party, mentioning that he loves surprise parties and recalling how happy he was last Christmas. You also explain your inability to attend due to a pre-arranged family trip with non-refundable tickets, and you successfully provide details of a plan to see him right after you return from your Texas trip. The tone is suitably polite and friendly throughout, matching the requirements of a general letter to friends of a peer. Your ideas are well-developed and clear, fully satisfying the requirements for Task Achievement at this level.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0
The letter maintains a clear logical organization with an appropriate greeting and sign-off. Paragraphing is used to separate different points, such as the reason for the party, the inability to attend, and the alternative plan. Cohesive devices are employed, although some transitions like 'Moreover', 'To add more', and 'Although' are used somewhat awkwardly or punctuated incorrectly. For instance, starting a sentence with 'Although,' without a main clause completion can disrupt the natural flow. However, the overall progression of ideas remains easy to follow, and referencing is generally clear throughout.
Lexical Resource: Band 6.0
The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, successfully conveying your message to Mr and Mrs Collins. You attempt some less common vocabulary and context-specific phrases, such as 'non-refundable', 'surprise parties', and 'organize a big party'. However, there are noticeable spelling and capitalization issues, particularly with proper nouns and pronouns like 'chris' instead of 'Chris' and 'christmas' instead of 'Christmas'. Word choice is sometimes repetitive, and phrases like 'get so happy' could be expressed with greater precision and natural collocation.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0
You demonstrate a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, incorporating clauses with 'as', 'although', and 'since'. However, control over punctuation and sentence boundaries needs improvement. There are run-on sentences joined by commas instead of full stops, such as in the first paragraph where multiple ideas are linked together without proper separation. Additionally, there are minor grammatical errors, such as missing articles ('in five star hotel' should be 'in a five-star hotel') and capitalization oversights ('i' instead of 'I'). Despite these errors, communication is rarely impeded, and meaning remains clear.
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