Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-08-16

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 or Madam,

I have recently enrolled for the part-time course offered by your university for child care program. The course will start from next month 01 September 2026, and due to some personal exigencies, I would like to withdraw my candidature and proceed for full refund.

I come from Kenya and got the admission through consultancy services who assured that more than half of the fees would be given as a scholarship. Today, upon getting the offer letter, it is mentioned that full fees has to be paid in fifteen days and there is no mention of the burglary. After reaching out to them, it came to my notice that those funds are subject to the academic performance and can not be credited initially.

The administration of that office has denied for such claims and I am directly reaching out to you to find another way. I have received all the required documents to come to Canada and due to unavailability of the funds, I would like to enroll for a similar course which can be cost effective.

Looking forward to hearing positive news from you.

Regards,

XYZ

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

The response successfully addresses all three bullet points of the prompt. You clearly identify the course, explain the financial reasons for the cancellation, and inquire about alternative options. The tone is generally appropriate for a formal letter to an administrator. However, the narrative regarding the 'consultancy services' and the mention of 'burglary' (which seems to be a misuse of the word 'bursary' or 'scholarship') is slightly confusing and takes up space that could have been used to more clearly articulate your request for a transfer. Overall, the purpose of the letter is clear and the task requirements are fully met.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The letter is logically organized into distinct paragraphs, each serving a clear purpose. The progression of ideas is easy to follow, moving from the notification of cancellation to the explanation and finally the request for alternatives. You use some cohesive devices such as 'due to' and 'after reaching out to them', which help the flow. However, some transitions could be smoother, and the link between the consultancy issues and the request for a different course could be more tightly integrated to improve the overall cohesion of the argument.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'enrolled', 'candidature', and 'unavailability'. However, there are some noticeable errors in word choice that affect precision. For instance, you use the word 'burglary' when you clearly meant 'bursary' or 'scholarship'. Additionally, 'denied for such claims' is slightly unnatural; 'denied these claims' would be more accurate. While these errors do not prevent the reader from understanding your meaning, they indicate a need for more careful attention to word choice and collocation to reach a higher band.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as 'The course will start from next month... and due to some personal exigencies, I would like to...'. There are some grammatical inaccuracies, such as 'offered by your university for child care program' (missing an article) and 'full fees has to be paid' (subject-verb agreement error; 'fees' is plural). Despite these errors, the meaning is consistently clear, and the punctuation is generally correct. To improve, focus on article usage and subject-verb agreement to ensure your writing is more polished and error-free.

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

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