Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-10-17

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 6.0)

Dear Dir or Madam,

I am writing this letter to request you to cancel my booking of the part-time course at your college.

The name of the course is hotel management which is starting on november 1st in your college. Due to some personal issues I would not be able to attend this course in person. I have great interest in this course but unfortunatelly I will not able to continue it.

I need to cancel my booking as I am travelling to my hometown as there is some family issues and I need to go there as soon as possible and even I do not have any idea how long I have to stay there. Therefore I need to cancel the booking.

I would request you to see the vacancy of the online french course if possible so that I can get admission in that if possible. as I can attend that class from overseas if the seats are still available.

I will be very thankful to you for understanding my situation.

Yours faithfuly,

ABC

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.0

You address all three requirements: you identify the hotel management course and its start date, explain that family circumstances require you to travel, and ask about transferring to an online French course. The reason for cancelling is clear and relevant, and the request for an alternative shows a consistent purpose. To make the response more fully developed, clarify whether you are asking to transfer your existing booking or make a new booking, and ask directly about availability, fees, or the next steps. The opening and closing are appropriate in intent, although the salutation should follow the prompt exactly. Overall, the key information is present, with some details of the alternative-course request less fully specified.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The letter has a coherent overall arrangement: it opens with the cancellation request, gives the course details and reason, then asks about another course before closing. Paragraphing helps separate these purposes. However, some links are repetitive or awkward. For example, the family-travel explanation repeats the need to cancel after the opening has already stated this, and “as” is used repeatedly in the same sentence. The transition from the cancellation explanation to the French-course request could be smoother, and the lowercase “as” after a full stop disrupts the flow. Use clearer paragraph focus and a small range of precise connectors to make the progression feel less mechanical.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use enough relevant vocabulary to communicate the situation, including “part-time course,” “personal issues,” “family issues,” “online French course,” and “seats are still available.” However, several word choices and collocations are inaccurate or unnatural, which limits precision: “see the vacancy” is not idiomatic for asking about availability, and “get admission in that” is awkward. There are also spelling errors in “unfortunatelly” and “faithfuly,” as well as inconsistent capitalisation of “November” and “French.” Choose conventional phrases such as “check whether places are available” and “enrol on the course,” and proofread spelling and capital letters to make the message more polished.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt a mix of simple and complex sentences, including explanations with “as” and a conditional phrase about seats being available. The main message remains understandable, but some grammatical errors occur. For example, “I will not able to continue it” needs “be,” while “there is some family issues” has a subject–verb agreement problem. The sentence beginning “I need to cancel my booking as I am travelling…” is overloaded and would be clearer as two sentences. “I would request you to see…” also uses an awkward grammatical pattern for a polite request. Practise accurate modal and verb patterns, agreement, and sentence boundaries; these changes would improve control while preserving your useful attempts at complex sentences.

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

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