Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-09-19
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 5.5)
Dear sir/ Madam,
i am writing this letter regarding the recent part time course that i booked recently and now i want to cancel that bookinfg. I need your assintance with this matter.
firstly,i would like to inform you that few days ago, i joined a english classes that will help me to be profficent in english. In particular, i want to change my slang in eenglish thats why i joined that course.
However, unfourtunetly, i have to cancel my booking in thsi english course. as my friend came from england ansd he told me that i can learn english not only from chatgpt but also from you tube videos that i never know before as well as he can help me with that.
Finally, i would appreciate if you could change my booking english to french classes.Since the french clases requires tutor training and i cannot learn that by myself. i hope you will consider my request and i look forward to hearing from you back
your faithfully,
jasmeet kaur
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 6.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0
The response covers all three bullet points required in the task prompt. You successfully stated which course you booked (an English class), explained why you need to cancel it (due to advice from a friend regarding alternative learning methods), and asked about booking a different course (switching to French classes). All parts of the task are adequately addressed, and the tone is appropriate for a formal letter to a college administrator. However, the development of ideas is slightly limited, and the rationale regarding YouTube and ChatGPT is rather informal and simplistic. Therefore, the response aligns best with a Band 6.0 performance for this criterion.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The letter maintains a coherent overall arrangement and follows a logical letter-writing structure from the salutation to the sign-off. Paragraphing is attempted to separate different points, such as the introduction, the reason for cancellation, and the request to change courses. However, cohesive devices are sometimes faulty or mechanical, such as the sequencing words 'firstly' and 'Finally' which lack intermediate connectors. Furthermore, referencing is occasionally unclear, and paragraph breaks are somewhat erratic with punctuation errors around them. These issues place the response firmly at Band 5.5.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.0
The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, with attempts at less common items such as 'profficent' (proficient), 'assintance' (assistance), and 'slang'. However, there are frequent spelling and word choice errors, including typos like 'bookinfg', 'unfourtunetly', 'thsi', 'ansd', and 'youtube'. While these errors do not completely impede communication, they are noticeable and demonstrate limitations in accuracy and control, restricting the score to a Band 5.0.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The text demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as relative clauses in 'classes that will help me'. However, there are numerous grammatical and punctuation errors throughout, including lowercase beginnings of sentences ('firstly,i', 'i hope'), missing articles ('a english classes'), run-on structures, and incorrect prepositions ('booking english to french classes'). The high frequency of punctuation and basic grammar errors means that while meaning is mostly clear, control is inconsistent. This performance corresponds to a Band 5.0.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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