Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-10-24

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 Robert,

I hope this letter find you in radiant health. I am extremely happy to hear that you are organising surprise party for your son's birthday. I writing this letter to inform you that I am unable to attend the party due to urgent work at my office.

As I know Chris from last 5 years, he will really enjoy this surprise party organised for his 18th birthday. He like surpries and family get togethers because celebration give him opportunity meet family members and friend. I am really want to join this celebration but my boss give me a responsibility to coordinate and manage everything for seminar organised by our company next week. I have to make all arrangements for keynote speakers such as accommodation, conference room, projecters for presentation, and hospitality. Therefore, it is very difficulty for me attend Chris birthday party this week. However, I plan to meet him next month. I booked the two tickets of movie in advance. Moreover, I booked a table in reputed hotel for dinner for dinner where we would have lots of enjoy and will recall numerous memories of past.

I hope, you will understand my situation and forgive me for my adsence.

Yours lovingly,

Rajdeep Kaur

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.0

You address all three points clearly: you explain that Chris enjoys surprises and family gatherings, give a specific work-related reason for missing the party, and propose meeting next month for a film and dinner. The seminar duties and planned outing make the response relevant and reasonably well supported. The main limitation is that some details are general or slightly unclear: “family get togethers” explains his likely enjoyment, but you could make the surprise itself more personal by mentioning how he might react or who would be there. Also, the task specifies writing to both parents, while “Dear Mr Robert” does not follow the supplied opening and may misidentify the recipient. A more accurate greeting and a little more development of Chris’s likely response would strengthen the letter.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The letter has a clear overall progression: you introduce the invitation and your apology, explain Chris’s interests and your work commitment, then suggest an alternative meeting and close politely. Linking expressions such as “Therefore,” “However,” and “Moreover” help show the relationships between ideas, and the seminar examples support the explanation. Some cohesion is less controlled, however. “I am extremely happy to hear…” is followed immediately by the reason you cannot attend, so the opening could connect more smoothly to the purpose of the letter. The long middle paragraph combines several functions and would be easier to follow if divided into a paragraph about the party and absence, followed by one about the alternative plan. Avoid stacking connectors where a simple transition would suffice.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range for the situation, including relevant terms such as “coordinate,” “keynote speakers,” “accommodation,” and “hospitality.” These details make the work commitment specific, and phrases such as “surprise party” and “family get togethers” suit the topic. There are, however, several spelling and word-choice or collocation errors that reduce naturalness: “surpries,” “projecters,” “adsence,” “radiant health,” and “lots of enjoy.” “Reputed hotel” is also less idiomatic in this context than “well-known hotel.” Aim for accurate, natural combinations rather than overly formal expressions; for example, “I hope you are well” would fit this friendly letter better than “in radiant health.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, including a reason clause with “because” and a result introduced by “Therefore.” The main ideas remain understandable, but grammatical control is uneven, with errors in verb forms, articles, agreement, and sentence construction. Examples include “this letter find” instead of “this letter finds,” “I writing” instead of “I am writing,” “He like” instead of “He likes,” and “I am really want” instead of “I really want.” In “opportunity meet,” the infinitive marker is missing, and “it is very difficulty for me attend” needs both a correct adjective and an infinitive structure. Review subject–verb agreement and basic verb patterns, then proofread each sentence for a complete, correctly formed clause.

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