Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-09-27

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 madam,

I am writing this letter to inform you about cancellation course booking. I booked a part-time business management course at your college and now I want to cancel the booking of it.

Actually, I took this course in hurry as i booked the course in the last date of booking and i thought this would be great oppertunity for me but now I am feeling that this is not related to my field and it would not be helpful in my future so i want to cancel the booking of this course.

And I would also like to request you about book another course in this semeter if it's possible. I really appriciate your time and understanding.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely

Arshdeep Singh

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response covers all three bullet points from the prompt: you stated which course you booked ("part-time business management course"), explained why you need to cancel ("not related to my field and it would not be helpful in my future"), and asked about booking a different course. However, there is a penalty to consider because the length requirement of a minimum 150 words was not met, as your response contains only 130 words. Because the ideas are somewhat repetitive and lack deeper extension, combined with the word count deficit, this places your task achievement performance at Band 5.5. To improve, ensure you fully develop each bullet point with more specific context and make certain you exceed the 150-word minimum.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

Your letter is structured with appropriate paragraph breaks separating your introduction, main body points, and closing remarks. The opening salutation and sign-off are included, although "Dear madam" should be capitalized. You use basic cohesive devices such as "and", "because", and "now", though the second paragraph relies heavily on run-on sentences connected by conjunctions rather than precise punctuation or varied cohesive links. The overall arrangement is generally coherent and easy to follow, allowing you to achieve a Band 6.0 for this criterion. To reach a higher band, focus on varying your transitional phrases and breaking down long, compound sentences into shorter, clearer segments.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You demonstrate an adequate vocabulary range to communicate your message regarding the course cancellation. However, there are several spelling and word choice errors throughout the text, such as "oppertunity" instead of opportunity, "in hurry" instead of in a hurry, "the last date" instead of the deadline, and "appriciate" instead of appreciate. Additionally, the phrase "about book another course" contains a grammatical error in lexical collocation/form. These errors show a limited range of control over less common vocabulary, placing your lexical resource at Band 5.5. Focusing on spelling accuracy and standard collocations will help elevate your score in future writing tasks.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The letter includes a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as the use of conditional phrasing ("if it's possible") and relative clauses ("that is not related to my field"). However, there are frequent grammatical errors and punctuation issues, notably run-on sentences in the second paragraph where multiple clauses are joined together without proper comma splices or full stops (e.g., "...future so i want to cancel..."). Capitalization errors are also present, such as lowercase "i". These persistent errors prevent communication from being entirely smooth, resulting in a Band 5.5. To improve, practice controlling complex sentence structures and proofreading for basic punctuation and capitalization.

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

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