Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-11-11

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

It is ten years since you left college. You'd like to organise an event to celebrate this anniversary with all your friends and classmates from college.

Write a letter to one of your college friends. In your letter

• say what kind of celebration event you'd like to organise

• explain why you think it would be good to celebrate in this way

• describe what help you need to organise this event

You do NOT need to write any addresses.

Begin your letter as follows:

Dear ....................................,

Student answer (Band 5.5)

Dear Mandeep,

I am writing this letter to you as i gonna be ten years on November 16 since we have left college as i wanted to host a party including all over fellow mates with we used study. As we can revisit some of the memories from the past and spend some beautiful time together. I am thinking of ordering food and drinks for everyone and i will order the cake . We all do the cake cutting ceremony. I think we will this is the best way as we will meet our old friends and will share our memories together and will remember the wonderful time everyone had in the college. But i will need your help in decorating the place as i will hang up the pictures we have at college and moreover as i don’t have any vehicle to pickup food so you have to do it for me.

Yours faithfully,

Manpreet

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You address all three points: you propose a party with food, drinks and cake, explain that classmates can revisit memories, and ask Mandeep to decorate and collect the food. These details make the purpose clear and keep the letter relevant. The explanation of why this format is suitable is less developed, however: the ideas about meeting old friends and sharing memories repeat one another rather than adding distinct reasons. The requests for help are specific, but the wording could make the arrangements clearer—for example, say where the food should be collected and when. Developing these points more fully would make the response more complete.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The letter follows a broadly sensible order, moving from the anniversary and proposed party to its benefits and then to requests for help. The greeting and sign-off also suit a letter. However, most of the content is placed in one long paragraph, and several ideas run together, particularly in the opening sentence and the final request. Linking words such as “as” and “moreover” are used awkwardly or repeatedly, so the relationships between ideas are not always clear. Use separate paragraphs for the plan, reasons and requests, and connect each point with simpler, more precise transitions to create clearer progression.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use enough vocabulary to communicate the main plan, including “celebration,” “memories,” “decorating” and “cake cutting ceremony.” The language is generally understandable, but some choices and combinations are unnatural or imprecise, such as “all over fellow mates,” “beautiful time” and “hang up the pictures we have at college.” “Pickup food” is also not the natural form for this meaning. These choices make the letter sound less fluent, even though the reader can infer your intentions. Aim for familiar, accurate collocations rather than adding elaborate wording; for example, describe inviting “our former classmates” and “putting up photos from our college days.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt to combine ideas using clauses, and the response includes both simple statements and longer sentences. However, several sentence structures are faulty, which sometimes makes the message difficult to follow. For example, “as i gonna be ten years on November 16 since we have left college” has an incomplete verb form and an unclear time construction; “we will this is the best way” is also structurally incorrect. The opening sentence joins too many ideas without clear punctuation, and “you have to do it for me” would be more appropriately framed as a request. Practise accurate past and future forms, complete clause structures, and sentence boundaries before extending sentences.

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