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

This is to advise that I enrolled for a part-time French language learning course in your esteemed college. I have received the enrolment confirmation email from the administration team along with schedule for the upcoming classes that are starting from end of September this year. I was excited about joining the course before my employer raised an urgent requirement for all staff in the department to complete a part-time course on Social Purpose in order to retain the employment. I am a full time employee of this organisation and earning decently to cover my personal and academic expenses.

I opted for French language course in your college due to the class schedule being convenient along with job.

Now, with this requirement, i can only spare time for one course at a time and priority would be the course required to retain the job. Therefore, you are requested to help me cancel my enrolment to the above said course. I hope you will understand my situation in this. Please advise if your college offers part-time course on Social purpose and my fees can be transferred to this instead. Such arrangement will help me retain my seat in the college and save my hard earned money to go in vain.

I hope to hear from you soon on this.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

You have successfully addressed all three bullet points in the prompt. You clearly identified the French course, provided a logical and professional reason for the cancellation (work-related requirements), and inquired about transferring to a Social Purpose course. The tone is appropriate for a formal letter to a college administrator. The ideas are well-developed and relevant, ensuring the reader understands your situation and your request. To reach a higher band, ensure that the opening and closing salutations are consistent; you began with 'Dear Sir' but the prompt provided 'Dear Sir or Madam', which is the standard formal convention.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The letter is logically organized, with a clear progression 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 'Therefore' and 'In order to', which help the flow of information. However, some transitions could be smoother; for instance, the second paragraph is quite short and feels slightly disconnected from the surrounding text. Improving the variety of linking words would enhance the overall cohesion of the letter.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate a sufficient range of vocabulary to convey your meaning clearly. Phrases like 'esteemed college', 'enrolment confirmation', and 'urgent requirement' are appropriate for the formal context. There are a few minor issues with collocation, such as 'earning decently' (better: 'earning a decent salary') and 'save my hard earned money to go in vain' (better: 'prevent my hard-earned money from being wasted'). These errors do not impede communication, but they do limit the precision of your writing. Expanding your range of formal 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 'along with schedule' (missing an article: 'along with the schedule') and 'i can only spare time' (the pronoun 'I' should always be capitalized). Additionally, 'my fees can be transferred' is a bit passive; a more direct structure like 'I would like to know if my fees can be transferred' would be clearer. While there are occasional errors, they do not cause difficulty for the reader, and your meaning remains clear throughout.

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

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