Band 7.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 7.0 · 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 7.0)

Dear Sir,

I am writing to formally express my intention to withdraw from the elective course of Law that I booked through my program leader on the 5th of May 2025 at our esteemed Law College in Bolton, Manchester.

The course that I booked was of Criminology when I was prompted by the Professor to select it. At the time of booking, I found this course to be of interest to myself as I have a strong interest in fact finding and to look into the 'cause' of actions behind individuals that have been involved in criminal activities.

However, upon reading the contents of the course, I was shocked to see that Criminology as a field is far more diverse than my expectations.

Despite my interest in fact finding, I have drawn the conclusion from the contents of the course that it does not align with my current goals to become a civil lawyer.

It is hence my request that I be allocated the course of arbitration and disputes, in order for me to understand the concepts of resolving civil disputes between two parties. This, as you will appreciate, aligns closely with my future goals and will help me prosper through the knowledge that it would offer me to become a good Civil Lawyer.

I would be grateful for your attention to this matter and I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours faithfully,

M.Ali Zaheer

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.0

The response successfully addresses all parts of the prompt, earning a solid score in this category. You clearly stated which part-time course you booked, mentioning the elective course of Law and Criminology, and explained why you needed to cancel by noting that the curriculum did not align with your goal of becoming a civil lawyer. Furthermore, you effectively asked about booking a different course by requesting to be allocated to arbitration and disputes. Your position is clear throughout the letter, and the purpose is maintained from beginning to end. To reach the highest band levels, some of your ideas could be extended even further with more nuanced details regarding your future career plans, and the bullet points could be integrated with a slightly sharper focus on the prompt's implied tone, ensuring all parts receive equally deep elaboration without minor redundancies.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

Your letter demonstrates a clear logical organisation and progression throughout, bridging the gap between a standard and higher-level response. The overall arrangement is coherent, starting with the booking details, moving into the reasons for withdrawal, and concluding with a request for an alternative course. You use cohesive devices adequately, such as 'However', 'Despite', and 'It is hence my request', which guide the reader smoothly through your arguments. Paragraphing is used sufficiently and appropriately, separating each main point into its own logical block. To push further into the top bands, you could ensure that cohesive devices are used even more flexibly and unobtrusively, avoiding slightly mechanical transitions like 'It is hence my request', which can occasionally draw attention to themselves rather than blending seamlessly into the narrative flow.

Lexical Resource: Band 7.0

You display a sufficient range of vocabulary with some flexibility and precision, allowing you to successfully convey your message. You attempt less common lexical items with awareness of style and collocation, using phrases such as 'formally express my intention', 'esteemed Law College', and 'civil lawyer'. Your vocabulary is more than adequate for the task and enables you to express your thoughts clearly. However, there are a few minor lexical slips and slightly awkward collocations, such as 'fact finding' (which is typically hyphenated as 'fact-finding') and 'look into the 'cause' of actions' (where 'root causes' or 'motivations' would sound more natural). Eliminating these slight inaccuracies and incorporating a wider array of sophisticated, precise phrasing would help elevate your lexical score even further.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 7.0

Your writing exhibits a good variety of complex structures alongside frequent error-free sentences, demonstrating strong control over grammar and punctuation. You successfully employ relative clauses and multi-clause sentences, such as 'I am writing to formally express my intention to withdraw from the elective course of Law that I booked...' and '...individuals that have been involved in criminal activities.' Punctuation is generally well managed, and verb forms are handled accurately across different tenses. While you maintain good control, a few minor structural heavinesses persist, such as 'look into the 'cause' of actions behind individuals', which slightly strains the syntactical flow. Maintaining this solid grammatical variety while refining preposition usage and subordinate clauses will ensure an even higher level of grammatical precision in future tasks.

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