Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-10-04
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 5.5)
Dear Owens,
I am writing this letter to apologise for not being able to surprise chris, as I have to visit my grandmother in hospital.I am sure that chris will enjoy the secret party as we planned. He really loves this kind of events specially organised for him. The decorations are fabulaous and the main centre of attraction is the cake. It is from his favorite baker. He will enjoy the party, I am sure he will be on cloud nine, when see those shoes.
I am extremely sorry about not being part of that day. My grandmother suddendly got sick and I had to rush to the hospital with her. There will be two days I need to stay with her. Although, my parents will be there, granny wants me to be there for her.
Furthermore, I am planning to visit him after she got discharged from hospital. I also have surprise gift for him, which will give him personally.
I hope you understand my situation,
yours Sincerly,
RHP
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 6.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5
The response addresses all parts of the prompt, though some parts are more fully developed than others, which places it at this level. You successfully mentioned why Chris will enjoy the surprise party by noting that "He really loves this kind of events specially organised for him" and pointing out the decorations and the cake. You also explained why you cannot attend due to a family emergency with your grandmother in the hospital and outlined a basic plan to see him later after her discharge. However, some ideas remain slightly under-developed; for instance, the details regarding the party elements and the future meeting lack extension. To reach a higher band, you should ensure that every bullet point is fully expanded with more elaboration and clear supporting details throughout the letter.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0
The letter shows a coherent overall arrangement and attempts to organise ideas into logical paragraphs, giving the text a recognizable structure for a friendly letter. However, cohesion is sometimes mechanical and referencing is not always completely clear. For example, the transition between discussing the party details in the first paragraph and shifting to the hospital emergency in the second lacks smooth transitional devices. Furthermore, pronouns are occasionally ambiguous, such as in the sentence "when see those shoes," where it is unclear what specific item is being referenced in relation to Chris. To improve Coherence and Cohesion, you should use a wider variety of cohesive devices more naturally and ensure that paragraph transitions guide the reader seamlessly from one topic to the next.
Lexical Resource: Band 6.0
Your vocabulary range is adequate for the task, successfully conveying the intended message to the reader. You attempt some less common vocabulary items and idiomatic expressions, such as "on cloud nine," which demonstrates a good effort to use natural phrasing. However, there are some noticeable spelling errors, such as "fabulaous" instead of fabulous and "suddendly" instead of suddenly, alongside minor word choice inaccuracies like "this kind of events" instead of these kinds of events. These lexical slips and spelling errors do not impede communication, allowing the reader to easily understand your meaning. To achieve a higher band, you should aim for greater precision in word choice, correct spelling, and more consistent control over collocation.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5
The response demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as when you use conditional and subordinate clauses like "I am writing this letter to apologise for not being able to surprise chris..." However, there are frequent errors in grammar and punctuation that prevent the writing from achieving a higher score. For example, there are missing articles ("visit my grandmother in hospital"), missing words in dependent clauses ("when see those shoes"), and tense consistency issues, such as "after she got discharged" instead of after she gets discharged or has been discharged. Punctuation errors also occur, such as missing spaces after periods. To improve your grammar score, you should focus on careful proofreading to catch missing prepositions, articles, and verb form inconsistencies in complex sentence structures.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
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