Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-10-04

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 going to write this letter about part time course which booked but for some reasons i want to cancel that and take admision in new ones.

Actually, i booked a Medical assistant course in your organization on 20th September 2026.I paid full fee for this by bank draft, which was $1500.

However, i want to cancel the admission in this course, as my alot of friends have taken admission in denal assistant program in which i also have great interest.Secondly,the fee of mediacl assistant is higher than this.

kindly book the denatl assiastant course for me and consifder the deposit fee for that which i paid ,and if possible return m

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

The response addresses the task only partially, and the length requirement is not met as the text falls significantly short of the minimum word count of 150 words. While all three bullet points from the prompt are touched upon—mentioning the Medical Assistant course, explaining the cancellation due to friends taking the dental assistant program, and asking to transfer the fee to a different course—the ideas remain limited and under-developed. For instance, the explanation regarding the change of mind is quite basic, and the letter trails off awkwardly at the end without properly concluding the request to transfer the deposit.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The letter shows some organisation, but there is no clear overall progression due to the fragmented structure and abrupt ending. Cohesive devices are minimal and sometimes inaccurate, such as using 'Secondly' where the transition does not flow smoothly from the previous point. Paragraphing is also disrupted, with uneven spacing and a lack of a clear sign-off. While the basic purpose of the letter is understandable overall, the mechanical use of referencing and limited links between sentences prevent the text from achieving a smoother and more logical flow.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is limited and barely adequate for the task. There are noticeable spelling errors throughout the response, such as 'admision', 'denal', 'mediacl', 'denatl', and 'assiastant', which cause some difficulty and distraction for the reader. Word choices are also basic and repetitive. To reach a higher level, the writer needs to incorporate a wider range of appropriate functional vocabulary for formal letter writing and ensure that common lexical items and course titles are spelled correctly.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response demonstrates a very limited range of sentence structures, relying mostly on simple and flawed complex forms. There are frequent errors in grammar and punctuation that cause difficulty for the reader, such as missing articles ('a part time course which booked', 'higher than this'), incorrect prepositions ('in your organization on 20th September'), and punctuation issues like missing spaces after commas. Furthermore, verb tense and agreement errors appear, such as 'I am going to write this letter about part time course which booked'. Complex sentence attempts are frequently inaccurate.

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

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