Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-09-21

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 or Madam,

i recently booked a part time couse in your college, it was german language learning course.in this course i am going to learn about basic german language and types of basic structure of language and normal conversational skill regarding german language.

I fell sorry to share that due to some urgent personal resaon i am not able to attend the course,my mom is ill and i am only available person in my home to take care. so i have to make a time and spent that time takingcare of my mother that's the main reason i am not be able to attend the course which i enroll.

i am very grateful if you change the course, cancel my currrent enrollment in german and add me in computer Ai learning class which is going to held next month, so i get some time to spend it with my mother and taking good care of my mother

your sincerly,

Usman Raza

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The candidate has successfully covered all bullet points required by the task prompt. Specifically, the letter clearly identifies the part-time course booked as the 'german language learning course', explains the reason for cancellation due to a family medical emergency involving the writer's mother, and asks about booking an alternative course, namely the 'computer Ai learning class'. The tone is generally appropriate for a formal letter to a college administrator, although it leans slightly informal in places. The ideas are relevant and directly address the prompt requirements, representing a satisfactory completion of the task. However, the development is somewhat basic and lacks extended elaboration. The response covers all required parts adequately, matching the expectations for Band 6.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The letter maintains a coherent overall arrangement, allowing the reader to easily follow the progression of the writer's situation from the initial booking to the cancellation and final request. However, paragraphing is not used appropriately; the entire body of the letter is compressed into a single, run-on block of text following the salutation, rather than being separated into clear paragraphs for each distinct point. Furthermore, cohesive devices are minimal and sometimes mechanical. Referencing is occasionally unclear, such as the repetitive use of 'my mother' and pronouns like 'it'. While the letter has a logical flow of ideas, the lack of proper paragraphing and limited use of cohesive devices place this criterion firmly at a Band 5.0.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, allowing the student to successfully communicate their message about cancelling and changing a college course. Words like 'enrollment', 'conversational skill', and 'administrator' show that the writer possesses a basic working vocabulary. However, there are numerous spelling and word-choice errors, such as 'couse' instead of course, 'resaon' instead of reason, 'takingcare' instead of taking care, and 'sincerly' instead of sincerely. There are also inappropriate collocations, such as 'make a time and spent that time'. The range is limited and frequently repetitive, particularly with phrases concerning the mother's illness. These noticeable errors and limited lexical flexibility reflect the descriptors for Band 5.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating some capability to connect clauses using words like 'due to', 'so', and 'which'. For example, sentences such as 'due to some urgent personal resaon i am not able to attend the course' show attempts at complex structures. However, these complex sentences are frequently faulty, leading to run-on sentences and comma splices, such as in the opening paragraph: 'i recently booked a part time couse in your college, it was german language learning course.' There are also missing capitalization for the pronoun 'i' and proper nouns like 'german', as well as punctuation lapses. Frequent grammatical and punctuation errors cause some difficulty for the reader, aligning the performance with a Band 5.0.

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

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