Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-09-18

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 5.0)

dear sir,

I hope you will be fine. Reacently i had booked a course about medical subject in your college,i want to cancel that course due to some reason.

That was the part-time course and i was choosed biology in medical.

I would like to cancel this course about my financial problems.i seems that i cant afford the pay,fee of this course because i live among my parents and my father suffurd with a dangerous diseas,at this time i need more money for their treatment.

However, I dont think so i continue this course furhere.

Therefor,i leave this course and want to contiue my job because this job will enhance my circumstances.

So, i really appology for this situation. If you understand my opinion i would like to ask you about booking a different course.please tell me any kind of course which are related my subject with some cheap fee.

your's sincerely,

Abbas

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The student addresses all parts of the task prompt reasonably well. They mention the specific course they booked ("a course about medical subject... biology"), explain why they need to cancel ("my financial problems" and family illness), and ask about booking a different course ("booking a different course. please tell me any kind of course which are related my subject"). However, the development of some ideas is slightly constrained by language limitations, and the tone is sometimes overly informal or direct for a formal letter to a college administrator. Nevertheless, the core requirements of the bullet points are covered, aligning well with the Band 5 descriptors where the task is addressed, though some areas remain somewhat limited and under-developed.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The letter lacks proper paragraphing, with most of the text bundled into a single block or poorly separated sentences, which affects the overall visual and structural organization. Cohesive devices are minimal, mechanical, or inaccurately used (e.g., starting sentences with "However," or "Therefor,"). Although there is a discernible narrative arc moving from the booking to the cancellation reason and finally to the request for an alternative course, the lack of effective paragraphing and repetitive referencing prevents the text from achieving a higher score. Overall, the organization shows some basic logic, fitting the Band 5 criteria.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is basic and repetitive, reflecting a limited range appropriate for simple communicative tasks. There are noticeable word choice and spelling errors throughout the text, such as "Reacently" for recently, "suffurd" for suffered, "diseas" for disease, "furhere" for further, and "appology" for apology. Collocations are occasionally unnatural, such as "afford the pay,fee of this course." While the vocabulary is minimally adequate to convey the basic message to the reader, the frequent errors and restricted range place this response firmly in the Band 5 category.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The student uses a very limited range of grammatical structures, relying primarily on simple sentences alongside some faulty attempts at complex ones (e.g., "i seems that i cant afford the pay,fee of this course because i live among my parents..."). Punctuation and capitalization are weak throughout the letter (e.g., starting sentences with lowercase letters like "i", missing commas, and run-on sentences). Errors are frequent, including tense inconsistencies and subject-verb agreement issues (e.g., "which are related my subject"). These frequent errors cause some difficulty for the reader, matching the description for Band 5.

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

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