Band 7.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 7.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-07-30

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 7.5)

Dear Sir or Madam,

I am writing to cancel my current part-time course booking at your college for the upcoming fall intake. While the college itself is fine, my course structure sounds difficult making it almost impossible for me to finish. I hope you will consider my situation favourably.

Let me explain my situation, I intially booked Computer Programming course with you considering its popularity and the demand. After signing up with you, I have subscribed to both Computer Programming and Cybersecurity introductory courses on an online platform. While I find Cybersecurity interesting, computer programming sounds so confusing to me. I have not been able to program basic tasks and therefore I will not be able to succesfully finish this course.

Would you kindly book me for Cybersecurity instead? I would much prefer to take up a course which I find interesting and comfortable.

Thank you for your consideration.

Yours faithfully,

Abhinay

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.5

You have successfully addressed all three bullet points in the prompt. You clearly identified the course booked, provided a logical reason for the cancellation, and made a polite request to switch to a different course. The tone is appropriate for a formal letter to an administrator. The ideas are well-developed and the purpose of the letter is clear from the outset. To reach a higher band, ensure that the explanation of your situation is slightly more concise to allow for a more sophisticated closing statement, but overall, you have fulfilled the requirements of the task effectively.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.5

The letter is logically organized with a clear progression of ideas. Each paragraph serves a distinct purpose, moving from the purpose of the letter to the explanation and finally the request. You used some cohesive devices such as 'While', 'therefore', and 'instead' to link your ideas. However, the transition between the first and second paragraph could be smoother. The use of paragraphing is appropriate for a formal letter. To improve, try to vary your linking words further to avoid repetitive structures, but the current flow is sufficient for a clear and coherent response.

Lexical Resource — Band 7.0

You have used a sufficient range of vocabulary to convey your meaning clearly. Words like 'intially', 'popularity', and 'favourably' are used correctly. There are some minor spelling errors, such as 'intially' (initially) and 'succesfully' (successfully), which slightly detract from the overall quality. While the vocabulary is adequate for the task, it is somewhat functional. To achieve a higher score, try to incorporate more precise collocations or slightly more sophisticated academic vocabulary, such as 'enrolled' instead of 'booked' or 'curriculum' instead of 'course structure'.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 7.0

You demonstrate a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. Most of your sentences are clear and easy to follow. There are a few minor grammatical slips, such as 'I intially booked Computer Programming course' (missing the article 'a' or 'the') and 'my course structure sounds difficult making it' (which would be better as 'making it...'). Punctuation is generally accurate, though there is a comma splice in 'Let me explain my situation, I intially booked...'. Despite these minor errors, your meaning is never obscured, and you show a good command of basic and intermediate grammar.

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