Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-11-09

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

You recently booked a part-time course at a college. You now need to cancel your booking.

Write a letter to the college administrator. In your letter:

• say which part-time course you booked
• explain why you need to cancel your booking
• ask about booking a different course

You do NOT need to write any addresses.

Begin your letter as follows:

Dear Sir or Madam,

Student answer (Band 5.5)

Dear Madam,

I am the student of your college.I am writing this letter to request you to cancel my booking on the Artificial Intelligence and Computational thinking part-time course which was said to held after 2 weeks. The reason I want to cancel is that I am going for a trip with my family for one month in which we will visit all the main places of this country. After coming from the trip, I want to join a new part-time course on the topic Technology and its types. I hope that you will accept my request. I shall be grateful to you.

Yours sincerely,

X-Y-Z

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You identify the course as “Artificial Intelligence and Computational thinking,” explain that a month-long family trip prevents you from attending, and ask about joining “Technology and its types” afterwards. These points are relevant, but the request about a different course is not developed: you do not ask whether it is available, when it runs, or how to book it. The reason for cancelling is also brief, and the letter does not fully establish the booking details. The response is 106 words, below the required 150, so it needs more relevant detail to meet the task fully. Expand the explanation and make a clear, specific enquiry about the alternative course.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The ideas follow a sensible basic order: you introduce yourself, state the cancellation request, give a reason, and mention a possible replacement course. This makes the purpose understandable. However, the response is presented as one continuous paragraph, so the cancellation and new-course enquiry are not clearly separated. Connections between ideas rely mainly on simple phrases such as “The reason” and “After coming from the trip,” and the closing request is quite abrupt. Use separate paragraphs for the cancellation and the alternative-course enquiry, and add linking language that makes the relationship between your trip, the course dates, and your next steps explicit.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

Your vocabulary is sufficient to communicate the main purpose, with relevant terms such as “part-time course,” “cancel my booking,” and “family.” The course names also make the situation specific. However, the range is limited, and several phrases are awkward or imprecise, including “which was said to held” and “all the main places of this country.” “Technology and its types” is also too broad to identify a particular course clearly. Choose more natural expressions and use precise course-related vocabulary, such as asking about the course title, schedule, availability, or enrolment process. This would make the letter sound more fluent and appropriately formal.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You use mostly simple sentence patterns, with a few attempts to connect ideas through clauses, as in “The reason I want to cancel is that…” and “in which we will visit…”. The overall meaning remains understandable, but errors appear in several sentence structures. For example, “which was said to held” needs a passive infinitive form, and “After coming from the trip” is not a well-formed time clause. There are also punctuation and spacing problems, such as “college.I”. Use a wider mix of accurate sentence forms, and check verb patterns, articles, and punctuation before submitting. Clearer sentence construction will help your formal request read smoothly.

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

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