Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-09-13

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 hope this letter finds you well. I am writing this letter in order to inform you about my decision to cancel my booking for a part-time Web Developer course. I booked this course a week ago and paid the security deposite at the college.

In the begining, the flexible schedule and hand on labs attracted me to choose this module. However, after reviewing the course details and doing some self analysis, I realised i have made a mistake. My core strength is in Networking rather than in programming. I believe studying in this field would be more beneficial than the other. Since, I decided to change my course to part-time Networking Technician.

I have checked college website and found out that changing course requires permission from the Dean. I have already sent an email regarding that and refered to you for further steps. I kindly request you to change my course as requested above. Let me know of any further documents that you need to preceed my apploication.

Kind Rigards,

Sam Wilson.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

The student has successfully covered all bullet points outlined in the task prompt. Specifically, the candidate clearly states which part-time course was booked ("Web Developer course"), explains the reason for cancellation due to a realization about core strengths ("My core strength is in Networking"), and asks about booking a different course ("change my course to part-time Networking Technician"). The tone is appropriate for a formal letter to a college administrator, and the purpose is clearly maintained throughout the letter. The ideas are relevant and logically developed to meet the requirements of General Training Task 1, earning a solid band score for task achievement.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The letter is logically organized into clear paragraphs that serve distinct functions: introducing the cancellation, explaining the reason and course change, and making the final request. Cohesive devices are used adequately, such as "However", "Since", and "In the begining". However, there are minor referencing and cohesion issues, such as the incomplete transitional phrase "Since, I decided to change...", which makes the connection slightly awkward. Paragraphing is appropriately handled, and the overall progression of information is easy for the reader to follow from start to finish.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary suitable for a formal administrative request, using terms such as "security deposite", "flexible schedule", and "permission from the Dean". There are some noticeable spelling and word choice errors, such as "deposite" instead of "deposit", "begining" instead of "beginning", "hand on" instead of "hands-on", and "apploication" instead of "application". Furthermore, phrases like "doing some self analysis" could be more polished. Despite these vocabulary and spelling errors, the meaning remains clear throughout the communication.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The candidate attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as "I am writing this letter in order to inform you..." and "After reviewing the course details and doing some self analysis, I realised i have made a mistake." There are several grammatical and punctuation errors, including a lowercase "i" ("I realised i have made"), an unnecessary comma after "Since", and a minor preposition issue ("beneficial than the other"). However, the majority of sentences are understandable, and these errors do not impede communication, placing the response securely in the Band 6 range.

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

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