Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-08-11

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 6.5)

Dear Sir,

I hope you are doing well. I am writing this letter to inform you about cancelling my part-time course which I enrolled in Strategic Marketing Communication around four months ago. The reason is lack of time as last month, my father got injured while driving and his condition is very serious. So, I have to take care of him as well as his pending chores.

As this course is entirely offline and it would be hard for me to pursue in-person. Instead of it, I want to merge this course into online digital marketing which definitely will be beneficial for my career growth and also it aligns with my interest.

This way, I would be able to look after my father and my study too. I kindly request to change my course if possible.

I am expecting a quick response from your side.

Thanks and Regards,

Manpreet Kaur

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

You have successfully addressed all three bullet points in the prompt. You clearly identified the course, provided a personal reason for the cancellation, and made a specific request to switch to an online alternative. The tone is appropriate for a formal letter to an administrator. The ideas are relevant and well-developed, ensuring the reader understands your situation and your desired outcome. To reach a higher band, ensure that the transition between the explanation of your father's situation and the request for the new course is slightly more formal, as the current phrasing is a bit conversational.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The letter follows a logical progression, moving from the purpose of the letter to the explanation and finally the request. Paragraphing is used effectively to separate these distinct ideas. You use some cohesive devices such as 'Instead of it' and 'This way', though some of these transitions are slightly mechanical. To improve, try using a wider variety of linking words and phrases to connect your sentences more fluidly. For example, instead of starting a sentence with 'Instead of it', you could use 'Given these circumstances, I would like to inquire about...'.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, such as 'enrolled', 'beneficial', and 'aligns with my interest'. However, there are some minor inaccuracies in word choice and collocation. For example, 'merge this course into online digital marketing' is slightly unnatural; 'transfer my enrollment to the online digital marketing course' would be more precise. Additionally, 'pending chores' is a bit informal for this context. Expanding your range to include more precise academic or professional collocations would help elevate your score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, which is appropriate for this task. There are some grammatical slips, such as 'it would be hard for me to pursue in-person' (missing an object, e.g., 'the course') and 'I kindly request to change' (should be 'I kindly request a change' or 'I kindly request to be transferred'). Despite these errors, your meaning is always clear, and the mistakes do not impede communication. Focusing on subject-verb agreement and ensuring all clauses have clear objects will help improve your accuracy.

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

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