Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-09-11

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 or Madam,

I am writing this letter to cancel my enrollment for the part-time "Food Science" course because of the in-person classes. I was mistaken about it being online, but due to my work timings I cannot attend it offline.

My registration was done in the course starting May 2026. It is major in Food Science which is about to be led by Professor Parikh. The class timings are 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and will be conducted only during weekends.

One of the reasons to withdraw my name is that I was expecting it to be online as I am full-time working professional. However, when I got the schedule it stated that it must be attended in-person which will be quite difficult for me as it clashes with my working hours. Although I enjoy learning but these classes are also longer than I expected.

I would be grateful if you could suggest me some other part-time and online courses at your college relevant to the same subject.

I hope you understand my concern and cancel my enrollment.

Yours sincerely,

Krupa

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 'Food Science' course, provided a logical reason for your cancellation (the conflict between in-person attendance and your work schedule), and requested information about alternative online options. The tone is appropriate for a formal letter to an administrator. The ideas are well-developed and the purpose of the letter is clear from the outset. To reach a higher band, ensure that all details provided (such as the specific dates or professor's name) serve the purpose of the letter, as some of the information in the second paragraph felt slightly extraneous to the core request.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The letter is logically organized with a clear progression of ideas. You use paragraphing effectively to separate the introduction, the details of the course, the explanation for cancellation, and the final request. Cohesive devices such as 'However', 'Although', and 'because of' are used to link ideas, though some transitions could be more varied. For instance, the transition between the second and third paragraphs is clear, but the flow could be improved by using more sophisticated linking phrases to connect the realization of the schedule conflict with the decision to withdraw. Overall, the structure is easy to follow and serves the task well.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'enrollment', 'withdraw', and 'professional' appropriately. There is an attempt to use less common vocabulary, though some phrasing is slightly unnatural, such as 'My registration was done in the course' (better: 'I registered for the course') and 'relevant to the same subject'. While the vocabulary is sufficient to convey your meaning clearly, it lacks the precision and flexibility required for higher bands. Focusing on more natural collocations and avoiding repetitive phrasing will help improve your score in this area.

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 errors, such as 'suggest me some other' (should be 'suggest some other courses to me') and 'Although I enjoy learning but these classes...' (the use of 'although' and 'but' in the same clause is redundant). Additionally, 'it must be attended in-person' is slightly awkward. Despite these errors, your meaning is always clear, and the mistakes do not impede communication. To improve, focus on refining your use of complex sentence structures and ensuring subject-verb agreement and preposition usage are accurate.

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

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