Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · 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 5.0)

Dear sir,

i am writing to cancel the booking of business administration course which i recently enrolled at a course. When i joined this course that time i have less busy schedule that is why i can easily part time study Unfortunately, now i have a number of responsibilities from my work because i actually work in kfc now they give me number of responsibilities such as seminars and training as a consequence, i can neither focus on my work nor study. However, i have keen interest to study at a college if any other courses are available on the weekends, you can share with me so i can get further knowledge regarding fees.

I hope you will response as soon as so i can enroll in further course without any delays. Thank you for assistance.

Yours faithfully,

Gagn

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The student has attempted all parts of the prompt by identifying the booked course (business administration), explaining the reason for cancellation due to a busy work schedule at KFC involving seminars and training, and inquiring about weekend alternatives. However, the response falls short of the minimum 150-word requirement, containing only 139 words. Because the length requirement was not met, this negatively impacts the task achievement score. Furthermore, while the bullet points are covered, the development is somewhat basic. To achieve a higher band, the writer needs to ensure they meet the minimum word count and expand slightly more on their future course preferences.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The letter lacks proper paragraphing, as it is condensed into only two blocks of text instead of separating the introduction, reasons, and inquiries into distinct paragraphs. Cohesive devices are occasionally used, but phrases like 'When i joined this course that time' and 'as a consequence, i can neither focus on my work nor study' show somewhat mechanical or faulty referencing. The overall progression of ideas is present, as the letter follows a logical sequence from stating the issue to proposing an alternative, but the lack of paragraph breaks significantly hinders readability and structural cohesion.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is adequate for a basic transactional letter, including terms like 'seminars', 'training', and 'enroll'. However, the range is limited, and there are noticeable word choice and collocation errors, such as 'enrolled at a course' instead of 'enrolled in a course', and 'i have less busy schedule'. The student also uses repetitive phrasing and informal constructions. Spelling and capitalization errors, such as 'kfc' instead of 'KFC' and lowercase 'i', further limit the lexical score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The writing demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as 'Unfortunately, now i have a number of responsibilities from my work because i actually work in kfc...'. However, grammatical accuracy is weak, with frequent errors including missing articles, incorrect prepositions, and run-on sentences lacking appropriate punctuation. For example, 'I hope you will response as soon as so i can enroll...' contains a grammatical slip ('response' instead of 'respond'). While meaning is generally clear, the high frequency of basic structural errors keeps the score at this level.

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

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