Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-10-03

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 Collins,

I hope you are in the pink of your health. I am writing this letter to revert you back on your invitation for the birthday party of Chris and inform you that I have an important interview on that exact day unfortunately which will regretfully prevent me from attending the event.

I read the surprise plan that you have organized for the evening.Considering the plan that you have organized for Chris is extremely surprising even for me. I am very curious to know how Chris will react on this beautiful plan. It is an absolute idea to invite all of his school friends without having him know and arrangiing a surprise dinner at the five star rooftop hotel in downtown. He is fond of all the surprises that you have organized on his birthday.

Now, coming back to my situation, I have secured an interview from my dream workplace and unfortunately it is scheduled on the same day as of Chris's birthday. I would not be able to attend the party as it is an extrememly important day for me.

But I would like to wish you all the best for all the plans that you have made to surprise Chris.

Next month, I will be coming to your city maybe for some offical documents signing and I am planning to meet Chris over there. I am thinking to give him a surprise like you will be organizing.

I hope you will understand my situation and let chris know.

Thank you,

regards,

utsav

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

You successfully cover all three bullet points required in the task instructions. You mention why Chris will enjoy the surprise party by praising the idea of inviting his school friends to a rooftop venue. You clearly explain why you cannot attend due to a conflicting job interview, and you provide a plan to see him next month for official documents and surprise him yourself. However, while all parts are addressed, some ideas are slightly repetitive and under-developed. For example, your explanation of the party plan and your own situation circle back to similar points without deep extension, which places your performance right between a fully developed approach and a partially extended one. To reach a higher level, you could expand more naturally on specific details of your proposed future meeting rather than just briefly mentioning it, ensuring every bullet point is thoroughly explored with rich, extended ideas.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

Your letter maintains a coherent overall arrangement with a clear purpose and identifiable paragraphs that separate your opening greetings, discussion of the party, your absence, and future plans. However, cohesion is at times mechanical and referencing is occasionally unclear. For instance, phrases like 'Now, coming back to my situation' feel somewhat abrupt and conversational in an unnatural way, and your referencing using pronouns like 'this beautiful plan' or 'such a surprise' can feel repetitive. Furthermore, paragraphing could be managed more smoothly to ensure a seamless progression of ideas from one thought to the next. To achieve a stronger flow, you should integrate cohesive devices more naturally rather than relying on formulaic transition phrases, ensuring that every sentence builds smoothly upon the previous one without jarring shifts in topic.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task and attempt some less common lexical items, such as 'rooftop hotel' and 'curious to know'. However, there are noticeable inaccuracies in word choice, collocation, and phrasing that prevent a higher score. For instance, 'revert you back on your invitation' is an unnatural collocation in English, and 'an absolute idea' is missing a modifier like 'a brilliant idea'. You also make a couple of minor spelling errors, such as 'arrangiing' and 'extrememly', alongside phrasing that lacks idiomatic precision. To push your lexical score higher, focus on mastering natural collocations and expanding your use of precise, topic-specific vocabulary without relying on awkward literal translations or incorrect prepositions.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating control over basic structures and attempting more intricate clauses, such as conditional and subordinate structures. However, your writing contains a noticeable cluster of grammatical errors and awkward phrasing, including 'I hope you are in the pink of your health' (which sounds archaic and unnatural) and misplaced modifiers like 'on that exact day unfortunately which will regretfully prevent me'. Punctuation and word order occasionally falter, such as missing commas or cluttered clauses. These errors do not impede communication, as your meaning remains clear, but they occur frequently enough to prevent you from reaching error-free territory. To improve, focus on refining word order in complex sentences, ensuring proper punctuation, and utilizing more natural phrasing rather than overly ornate idioms.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.