Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 6.5 · 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 6.5)
Dear Mr and Mrs Collins,
I am writing this letter to you as you invited me for Chris's surprise birthday party which I cannot attend on 5th october.
Chris is always excited for his birthday, so I think he will love this surprise party. He likes to celebrate all festivals with his loved ones and you are inviting his family and friends which is great way to celebrate his 10th birthday.
I apologize that I would not be there as I have to travel with my parents to see my grand parents. Additionally, they booked flight tickets few months ago as I was asking them to meet my grand parents and they are old so they cannot travel to meet us so due to this reason I could not attend his party.
However, I will be back on 8th october, so I will come to visit him after our school time. I will try to stay overnight there if it is possible. I will let him know if he is available or not on that day. Thank you so much for inviting me for Chris's birthday and I will miss him on his special day.
I will see you soon and enjoy his tenth birthday.
Yours Sincerely,
Jinal.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 7.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 6.0 |
| Overall | 6.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.0
The response successfully addresses all parts of the task. You clearly stated why Chris will enjoy the surprise party by mentioning his excitement for his birthday and love for celebrating with family and friends. You provided a clear reason for your absence by explaining your upcoming trip to visit your grandparents. Additionally, you gave concrete details about an alternative plan to see Chris after your return on October 8th. The position is clear throughout, and the ideas are extended and supported well, reflecting a solid performance for this criterion.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5
The letter maintains a coherent overall arrangement with clear paragraphing that logically separates your greeting, reasons for absence, alternative plans, and sign-off. Information flows quite smoothly, and you used helpful cohesive devices such as 'Additionally', 'However', and 'so' to connect your ideas. To fully secure a higher band, the logical bridge between some sentences could be slightly more natural and varied, moving past mechanical linking to more sophisticated transitions.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.5
You used an adequate range of vocabulary suitable for a general social letter, attempting less common expressions such as 'surprise birthday party', 'loved ones', and 'stay overnight'. However, there are some noticeable word choice and expression inaccuracies, such as writing 'see my grand parents' instead of visiting them, and 'after our school time' rather than after school. Spelling and word forms are generally clear enough to ensure communication is not impeded, but expanding your precise collocations and using a wider variety of vocabulary would elevate your lexical score.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0
You demonstrated a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing relative and subordinate clauses effectively in sentences like 'I am writing this letter to you as you invited me...'. There are some errors in grammar and punctuation, such as missing capitalisation for proper nouns and dates ('october'), minor preposition slips ('at' or 'on' usage in places), and tense consistency issues (such as 'he is available' instead of whether he will be free). Nevertheless, these errors are relatively infrequent and rarely impede communication, allowing the reader to easily understand your meaning throughout the letter.
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.