Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-09-08

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 am writing this letter regarding cancellation of my course and replace it with another one.

I recently registered my self for H-vac technician course in your college, which will last long for six weeks.

After discussing with my mentor, I found that this course will not be beneficial for me ahead in my professional life. Instead, he advised me to register myself in the Gas technician course which will help me to be a licensed technician. It will help me to recruit and work for big companies.

I came across your college's website and found that same course is available within similar time frame. Therefore, I request you to transfer my whole fee to book a Gas technician course for me so that I will not lose my money. I will be thankful to you for this act of kindness.

I will be happy to hear from you soon.

Regards

Simarpreet

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

The letter successfully addresses all three bullet points: identifying the course, explaining the reason for cancellation, and requesting a transfer to a different course. The tone is appropriate for a formal letter to an administrator. The ideas are relevant and clearly presented, ensuring the reader understands the request immediately. The purpose of the letter is clear from the opening sentence, and the closing is polite and professional. To reach a higher band, the student could provide slightly more detail regarding the specific dates or registration numbers to make the request more concrete and realistic.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The letter is logically organized, with each paragraph serving a clear purpose. The progression of ideas is easy to follow, moving from the current situation to the reason for change and finally the request. Cohesive devices such as 'Instead', 'Therefore', and 'which' are used effectively to link sentences. However, the paragraphing is slightly fragmented; some sentences could be grouped more effectively to improve the flow. The use of referencing is generally clear, though the transition between the second and third paragraphs could be smoother to enhance the overall cohesion.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The vocabulary is adequate for the task, allowing the student to communicate their needs clearly. Phrases like 'beneficial for me ahead in my professional life' and 'act of kindness' are functional, though slightly informal or clunky. There are some minor inaccuracies in word choice, such as 'recruit' (which is usually used by companies to hire people, not by individuals to get hired). While the range is sufficient, it lacks the precision and sophistication required for higher bands. Expanding the use of collocations related to academic administration would improve the score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The letter demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are some grammatical errors, such as 'registered my self' (should be 'myself'), 'last long for six weeks' (should be 'last for six weeks'), and 'same course is available' (should be 'the same course'). Additionally, 'I will be thankful to you for this act of kindness' is slightly unnatural in a formal business context. While these errors do not impede communication, they are frequent enough to prevent a higher score. Increasing the variety of complex structures while ensuring accuracy would be beneficial.

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

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