Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-10-21

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 6.5)

Dear Sir,

With all due respect, I beg to say that I have booked myself in the published short course named the Building Infrastructure Modeling in your college. The course will be starting after fifteen days and the duration of the course is three week.

This is to inform you that, I would not be able to join this course for now. One of my senior has advised me to first learn the AutoCAD and the Quantity Surveying & Cost Estimation which is pre-requisite to the Building Infrastructure Modeling. Thus, I am requesting you to kindly cancel my booking for this course. As mentioned in policy that, student can cancel the booking atleast ten days prior to the start of course.

Moreover, I would like to register myself in the Quantity Surveying & Cost Estimation course which will be starting from the first Monday of next month.

For this, I shall be really thankful to you.

Yours Obediently,

Fahad

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.0

You address all three requirements clearly: you identify the Building Infrastructure Modeling course, explain that you have been advised to complete prerequisite study first, and request a place on Quantity Surveying & Cost Estimation. The cancellation request is supported by the course start date and the stated cancellation policy, while the request for another course gives a proposed start time. This makes the purpose clear and the relevant ideas are extended with useful details. To strengthen the letter further, explain briefly why you personally need to follow this advice, or ask whether the alternative course has availability and how to transfer your booking. The formal tone is generally appropriate, though the salutation should follow the prompt exactly.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The letter has a clear overall sequence: booking details, reason for cancellation, cancellation request, and enquiry about a replacement course. Paragraphing helps distinguish the opening information from the requests, and links such as “Thus” and “Moreover” make the progression easy to follow. This is a coherent arrangement, but some connections feel mechanical or unclear. For example, “This is to inform you that” adds little before the cancellation explanation, and “For this” does not specify whether you mean the cancellation or the new registration. Grouping the cancellation and alternative-course requests more deliberately, and using clearer references such as “Regarding the alternative course,” would make cohesion more flexible and natural.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range for a formal administrative letter, including relevant terms such as “pre-requisite,” “cancel my booking,” and “register myself.” The course names and policy reference are specific, so the reader can understand the situation. There are, however, several awkward or inaccurate choices that limit precision and naturalness. “Booked myself in the published short course” is not a natural collocation, and “one of my senior” is unclear in this context. “Yours Obediently” also sounds overly deferential and is not the usual closing for this letter. Aim for conventional administrative phrasing and check spelling and word forms, including “at least” and “prerequisite.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, for example the relative clause in “which is pre-requisite” and the reason-and-result structure beginning “One of my senior has advised me… Thus…”. The main message remains understandable, but some grammatical errors recur. Examples include “the duration of the course is three week” (plural agreement), “One of my senior has advised” (number agreement), and “the course will be starting” where a simpler future form would be more natural. Commas are also misplaced in “I would not be able to join this course for now” and “As mentioned in policy that…”. Review articles, plurals, agreement, and punctuation, while retaining a mix of sentence structures.

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

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