Band 7.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 7.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-09-27

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 7.5)

Dear Ahmed,

I hope you are doing well. It is hard to believe that it has already been ten years since we left college! I have been thinking about our college days recently, and I would love to organise a reunion so that we can all meet again and celebrate this special anniversary together.

I am thinking of arranging a relaxed dinner at a nice restaurant, followed by some informal activities, such as sharing old photographs, talking about our favourite college memories and perhaps giving a short presentation about what everyone has been doing over the past decade. I think this would be a wonderful way to celebrate because it would give us an opportunity to reconnect with old friends, remember some memorable moments and find out how everyone's lives have changed.

I would really appreciate your help with the organisation. In particular, could you help me contact our former classmates and create a group where we can discuss possible dates and venues? It would also be great if you could collect some old photographs and help prepare a short slideshow for the evening. I can take care of the restaurant booking and other arrangements once we know the number of people attending.

Please let me know what you think of the idea. I am really looking forward to seeing everyone again after all these years!

Best wishes,

Yousif

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.5

The student has successfully covered all bullet points required by the task prompt. First, Yousif clearly states the kind of celebration he wants to organise, which is a relaxed dinner at a nice restaurant followed by informal activities such as sharing old photographs and giving short presentations. Second, he explains why this is a good idea by noting that it provides an opportunity to reconnect with old friends, reminisce about memorable moments, and catch up on everyone's lives over the past decade. Finally, he clearly describes the specific help he needs, asking Ahmed to help contact former classmates, create a discussion group, collect old photographs, and prepare a slideshow. The tone is entirely appropriate for a friendly letter to a college mate, and all ideas are well-developed and relevant. Therefore, this fulfills all criteria for a Band 8 score under Task Achievement.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 7.5

The letter exhibits clear logical organisation and progression from the opening friendly greeting down to the final sign-off. Each paragraph serves a distinct communicative purpose: the first introduces the occasion and the reunion idea, the second details the event and its benefits, and the third outlines the request for assistance. Cohesive devices are used naturally and effectively without being obtrusive, as seen in transitions like 'I am thinking of arranging', 'In particular', and 'It would also be great if'. Paragraphing is used sufficiently and appropriately, maintaining a smooth reading flow. Referencing words such as 'this' and 'everyone' are managed well throughout. This meets the criteria for a Band 8 in Coherence and Cohesion.

Lexical Resource: Band 7.5

The student demonstrates a wide, fluent, and flexible range of vocabulary appropriate for an informal yet communicative context. Expressions such as 'relaxing dinner', 'informal activities', 'reconnect with old friends', and 'over the past decade' flow naturally and show good collocation control. There are no noticeable spelling or word-choice errors, and the writer successfully incorporates less common phrases with a natural tone (e.g., 'special anniversary', 'former classmates'). While it does not stretch into extremely advanced or academic idiom, the precision and naturalness of the lexical items comfortably place this response at a Band 8 level for Lexical Resource.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 7.5

Yousif uses a wide variety of sentence structures, seamlessly mixing simple, compound, and complex sentences. For instance, 'I am thinking of arranging a relaxed dinner at a nice restaurant, followed by some informal activities, such as...' demonstrates strong syntactic control and punctuation skills. The majority of the sentences are error-free, with only occasional minor slips if any are present at all. Verb tenses are handled accurately across past, present, and future timeframes ('have been thinking', 'would love to organise', 'has been doing'). The grammar supports clear communication with a high degree of accuracy, justifying a Band 8 rating.

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

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