Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-09-12

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,

I am writing this letter to inform you about my change in the plan to withdraw the booking in a short-term course.

Recently, I took addmission in a Project Management Course for a year in the upcoming semester, starting from january 2027. This course is based on theoratical aspects which significantly helps in gaining ideas to work in different cultures.

Unfortunately, next month I am travelling to Vancouver for a business meeting with the officials of my company. I will be staying there for a couple of months. As the dates of the course clash with my travel, I will not be able to attend the in-person classes.

Additionally, I am still interested in a Business Accountant Course for the next term if it is available at the campus. It is a two-year post graduation diploma, covers the different aspects of accounts, such as book-keeping, annual budget and general ledgers.

I will look forward to your kind response.

Yours sincerely,

Supreet Singh

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The candidate successfully covers all three bullet points required in the prompt. First, they identify the booked course by stating they took admission in a "Project Management Course". Second, they explain the reason for cancellation clearly, noting an upcoming business trip to Vancouver next month that clashes with the course dates. Third, they inquire about booking a different course, expressing interest in a "Business Accountant Course for the next term". The tone is appropriate for a formal letter to a college administrator, although the greeting uses "Dear Sir" rather than the requested "Dear Sir or Madam". Overall, all parts of the task are adequately addressed and the ideas are relevant, leading to a solid performance for this criterion.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The letter has a coherent overall arrangement with a clear paragraph-by-paragraph structure that addresses the individual requirements of the task. Information is logically sequenced, moving from the initial notification of cancellation to the underlying reason, and finally to the alternative course inquiry. Cohesive devices are used reasonably well, such as transitional phrases like "Unfortunately" and "Additionally". However, paragraphing is slightly disrupted by single-sentence paragraphs, and some referencing is occasionally clunky. Nevertheless, the progression of ideas is easy to follow and meets the requirements for a mid-to-high band.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting some less common business and academic terms such as "project management", "theoratical aspects", "book-keeping", and "general ledgers". However, there are several noticeable lexical errors and awkward word choices, including spelling mistakes like "addmission" and "theoratical", as well as unnatural phrasing such as "change in the plan to withdraw the booking in a short-term course". While these errors do not impede communication, they reflect a lack of precision that prevents the score from reaching a higher band level.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The writer uses a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, incorporating relative clauses and subordinate structures such as "As the dates of the course clash with my travel..." and "...if it is available at the campus". There are several grammatical errors and awkward preposition usages throughout the text, including "took addmission in" instead of "enrolled in", and "change in the plan to withdraw the booking in a short-term course" which is ungrammatical. Punctuation is generally acceptable, but minor errors persist. These inaccuracies occasionally draw attention, but they rarely impede the overall flow of communication.

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

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