Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · 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 6.5)

Dear Sir or Madam,

I hope this message finds you well. The purpose of my writing today is to inform you that I can not proceed with the recent part-time course I booked at your establishment and need your assistance to cancel its registration.

Last month, I booked Psychology 101. According to the course overview, classes would mainly focus on cognitive disabilities such as stress, anxiety, and depression.

This couse was suggested by one of my friends and she mentioned this would improve my skills and work efficiency. However, I discussed about this course with my manager, according to her there is an upgraded version of this couse and I should enroll in that.

My manager suggest me to take part in Psychology 105. Athough the overall context of both the couses are similar, Psychology 105 would maily focus on practicals instead of theory. I also believe that this upgraded couse will be more helpful for my employment and I will be grateful if you can assist me with its booking process.

Thank you so much for your time and consideration.

Yours sincerely,

Gurkirat Kaur

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

You have successfully covered all three bullet points required in the task instructions. You clearly stated which part-time course you booked ('Psychology 101'), explained why you need to cancel ('my manager suggest me to take part in Psychology 105' which focuses more on practicals), and asked about booking the alternative course ('I will be grateful if you can assist me with its booking process'). The tone of the letter is polite and appropriate for a college administrator, and the purpose is immediately clear. All parts of the prompt are addressed adequately, placing your response comfortably into the Band 6.5 to 7.0 range for this criterion. To reach higher bands, you could develop the explanations slightly more smoothly, but your communicative intent is fully achieved.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

Your letter has a clear overall structure, opening with an appropriate greeting and closing formula. You use basic paragraphing to separate your introduction, body points, and conclusion. Cohesive devices such as 'However' and 'Although' are used to connect ideas. However, paragraphing could be slightly more refined, as some sentences within the body paragraphs could be grouped better for logical flow. Referencing is generally clear, though minor repetition of ideas slightly disrupts the natural progression. Overall, the organization is easy to follow and meets the criteria for Band 6.5 to 7.0.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for this task, using terms such as 'establishment', 'cognitive disabilities', 'efficiency', and 'employment'. However, there are a few noticeable spelling and word choice errors, such as 'couse' instead of 'course', 'mainy' or 'maily' instead of 'mainly', and the awkward phrase 'discussed about this course' (discuss does not need 'about'). You also repeatedly use the word 'couse' incorrectly throughout the text. While these lexical errors do not impede communication, they restrict your score to a Band 6.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, including conditional and subordinate clauses (e.g., 'Athough the overall context of both the couses are similar...'). There are, however, several grammatical and punctuation errors present. For instance, subject-verb agreement is incorrect in 'the couses are', and tense consistency slips slightly in 'my manager suggest me' (should be suggested). Punctuation is generally acceptable, but commas are occasionally misplaced. These errors occur regularly enough to prevent a higher band, but they rarely impede overall communication, reflecting a solid Band 6.0 performance.

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

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