Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-10-11

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 5.0)

Dear Friend,

I hope you and your family are doing well. I am writing regarding inviation that I recieved from your parents to give you a surprise birthday party.

Over the last few weeks, your guardians are planning to offer you a well good birthday party on your 12th birthday, by invitating your all friends to make this moment wonderful and precious for you.I am pretty sure about this that you will defeniately enjoy this day. Although this day is very special for you and wants to celebrate according to your taste, I encourage you to attend this party, you will getting shocked after watching all the prepration.

Furthermore, there are some uncertain reasons why I cannot attend this function. Firstly I am going to outside the city with my mother, because from the last week, She was not going to well, having some health issues.I am feeling of disappoint that i will not come on your birthday. I hope you will try to understand my situation.

I have informed to your parents to make some videos and capturing the pictures while cutting the cake and doing dance with family and friends.I will see these videos after visiting at home.

Best wishes

rrr

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.0

The response attempts all three required points: it predicts Chris will enjoy seeing friends gathered for the occasion, explains that you are travelling with your mother because of her health, and mentions a later opportunity to see videos. However, the letter does not follow the required opening to Mr and Mrs Collins and instead begins “Dear Friend,” while much of the message addresses Chris directly. The final point is also not fully answered: watching recordings is not a clear plan to meet Chris at another time. The reason for the absence is understandable but brief, and the party explanation includes unsupported details such as Chris’s age. Make the audience clear and propose a specific alternative, such as meeting for lunch the following weekend.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The response has a recognisable structure, with separate paragraphs for the party, the reason for not attending, and a later follow-up. Connectors such as “Furthermore” and “Firstly” help signal the shift to the absence explanation. However, the overall progression is weakened by the mismatch between the requested letter to Chris’s parents and the repeated direct address to Chris (“you”). The final paragraph does not clearly develop a plan to meet, and some sentences run together, making relationships between ideas harder to follow. Use clear paragraph purposes and refer consistently to the parents as your readers; then end with a concrete meeting arrangement.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some relevant vocabulary for the situation, including “surprise birthday party,” “special,” “health issues,” and “disappoint.” The meaning is generally recoverable, but the range is limited and several inaccurate word choices or collocations make the letter sound unnatural, such as “well good birthday party,” “invitating your all friends,” and “watching all the prepration.” Spelling errors, including “inviation,” “recieved,” and “defeniately,” are also noticeable. Choose familiar, accurate expressions rather than attempting awkward combinations: for example, say that the parents are “organising a wonderful celebration” and “inviting all your friends.” Proofreading spelling and word forms would make the message easier to read.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response attempts some longer sentences, including the explanation beginning “Although this day is very special,” and uses basic sentence patterns to communicate the main points. However, complex structures are often faulty, and errors occur frequently enough to make parts difficult to follow. Examples include “your guardians are planning” for a past or current plan in this context, “you will getting shocked,” and “I am going to outside the city.” There are also problems with agreement and tense in “She was not going to well,” as well as sentence-boundary and capitalization issues in “health issues.I am feeling” and “i will.” Practise accurate future forms, verb patterns, and punctuation, and keep longer sentences simpler until you can control their clauses.

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

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