Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-08-28

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 Sir or Madam,

I am writing this letter to you to request for the cancellation of my part-time course which I had booked for next year.

I had register my admission into diploma course in Health and Fitness. This course has two semesters starting from January 2027 to June 2027 and I had booked before one month.

However, I have now changed my mind. I want to switch my career into another sector like IT or softwere developer, because I believe after graduating, there will be less chances of job opportunities.

Furthermore, I would like to change my admission to softwere programming as I have also education background in IT sector. Moreover, I feel that I would get more opportunities to develop my career.

I am looking forward to hearing from you. Also, I am apologizing you for the inconvenience it may have caused.

Yours sincerely,

Pragati Nanera

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The letter covers all three bullet points: identifying the course, explaining the reason for cancellation, and requesting a change. However, the response is slightly under the 150-word minimum, which negatively impacts the task achievement score. While the ideas are relevant, the explanation regarding the career change is somewhat repetitive and could have been more concisely expressed to allow for a more professional tone. The purpose of the letter is clear, but the development of the request for a different course is quite brief.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The letter is organized into logical paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the progression of ideas. Cohesive devices such as 'However', 'Furthermore', and 'Moreover' are used to link sentences. However, the use of these connectors is sometimes mechanical, and the flow between the explanation of the career change and the request for a new course could be smoother. The referencing is generally clear, but the overall structure feels a bit disjointed due to the short, somewhat abrupt sentences.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is adequate for the task but lacks variety and precision. There are several spelling errors, such as 'softwere' (software) and 'register' (registered), which detract from the professional tone required for a formal letter. The range of vocabulary is limited to basic terms, and there is little attempt to use less common or more sophisticated collocations. To improve, you should focus on using more precise professional terminology and ensuring accurate spelling of key terms.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The response contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors. Examples include 'I had register my admission' (should be 'I registered'), 'booked before one month' (should be 'booked a month ago'), and 'I am apologizing you' (should be 'I apologize to you'). These errors are noticeable and occasionally impede the flow, though the meaning remains clear. A greater focus on verb tense consistency and correct preposition usage is needed to reach a higher band.

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

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