Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-10-05

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 am very happy to receive your invitation letter of surprise birthday party of Chris.

I know Chris from sixth standard. He likes surprises. I knew when I gave him pen on his tenth birthday. He felt over the moon during that time. As a parents, you know more than me the taste of Chris.

I am feeling apolozise that I would not attend this party as I am not in this city right now. Actually my grand father was not well. Due to his treatment, I moved in Ludhiana in my aunt house for three months. It is hard for me to leave my grandfather alone at home.

When I will come back, I will also give surprise to Chris. Maybe, I will organised small party with him as well as other friends where we will go for watching movie, eating street food or adventure some activities.

It really means a lot for me that you invited me but I really feel sorry that I will not be able to come. But from my side say happy birthday.

Your Faithfully,

Teenu Walia.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

You successfully cover all three bullet points required in the prompt. You mention why Chris will enjoy the surprise party by stating he likes surprises and recalling how he felt on his tenth birthday. You explain why you cannot attend due to family circumstances regarding your grandfather in Ludhiana, and you provide a clear plan to see Chris later by organizing a small gathering for a movie, street food, or adventure activities. However, the development of these ideas is uneven. While the explanation for your absence and the future plan are relatively clear, the first point regarding why he will enjoy it relies on somewhat limited elaboration, touching on a personal anecdote rather than fully extending the reasoning. This places your performance right at the threshold of fully addressing all parts with some ideas remaining under-developed.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

Your letter has a clear overall arrangement and follows a logical structure from the opening salutation through to the sign-off, successfully breaking your thoughts down into appropriate paragraphs. You manage basic referencing well, such as using 'He' and 'It' to link ideas. However, the progression between sentences can occasionally feel mechanical or abrupt, particularly in the second paragraph where transitions between sentences like 'I know Chris from sixth standard' and 'He likes surprises' lack smoother cohesive devices. While referencing is generally understandable, the occasional awkward linkage prevents the progression from being entirely seamless, aligning well with an overall coherent structure that features some mechanical cohesion.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting some less common expressions such as 'over the moon' and 'street food'. However, there are noticeable lexical errors in word choice, collocation, and word form, such as writing 'invitation letter of surprise birthday party' instead of 'invitation to a surprise birthday party', 'As a parents' instead of 'As parents', and 'apolozise' instead of 'apologize'. You also write 'adventure some activities' instead of 'adventurous activities'. These errors do not impede communication, but the presence of frequent word choice and spelling inaccuracies shows that your lexical control sits right in the middle tier for vocabulary.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, attempting complex forms with clauses introduced by 'As' and 'when'. However, your writing contains frequent grammar errors in prepositions, verb forms, and articles, such as writing 'moved in Ludhiana in my aunt house' instead of 'moved to my aunt's house in Ludhiana', 'When I will come back' instead of 'When I come back', and signing off with 'Your Faithfully' instead of 'Yours faithfully'. These errors in basic and attempted complex structures require some effort from the reader to parse, though they rarely obscure the overall meaning entirely. Expanding your control over verb tenses in dependent time clauses and prepositions will help elevate your grammatical accuracy.

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

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