Band 7.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 7.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-09-28

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 John,

I hope you're doing well! It's hard to believe, but it has been ten years since we graduated from college. To mark the occasion, I'm planning a ten-year reunion event for our graduating class.

I’d love to host a semi-formal dinner gathering where we can invite around 50 people, including our former classmates, professors, and the department head. I think this format would be ideal because it gives everyone a relaxed environment to catch up, share their career journeys, and reminisce about our college days after such a long time.

Since I am currently handling the venue and catering reservations, I could really use your help with a few things. Would you mind taking charge of reaching out to our former professors and the dean? Also, if you could arrive a bit early on the day of the event to help with the seating arrangements and audio setup, that would be amazing.

Let me know what you think. I hope to see you soon!

Best wishes,

Mark

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.5

The response fully and effectively addresses all bullet points outlined in the task prompt. Mark clearly states the type of celebration event he wishes to organise, proposing a semi-formal dinner gathering for around 50 people. Furthermore, he expertly explains why this format is beneficial by mentioning that it provides a relaxed environment to catch up, share career journeys, and reminisce about college days. Finally, he successfully describes the specific help he needs from John, asking him to reach out to former professors and the dean, as well as assist with seating arrangements and the audio setup on the day of the event. The tone is entirely appropriate for a letter to a college friend. Therefore, this performance easily meets the requirements for a high band score.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 7.5

The letter demonstrates a clear and logical progression of ideas throughout. Each paragraph serves a distinct purpose, moving smoothly from the initial greeting and the announcement of the reunion to the specific details of the event and finally to the request for assistance. Cohesive devices are handled naturally and effectively, such as 'To mark the occasion', 'I think this format would be ideal because...', and 'Since I am currently handling...'. Paragraphing is used sufficiently and appropriately, separating the introduction, the event details, the request for help, and the closing remarks into well-structured paragraphs. Referencing is consistently clear, ensuring a seamless flow of information.

Lexical Resource: Band 7.0

The vocabulary used is natural, fluent, and precise, demonstrating a wide range suitable for a general social context. Mark successfully incorporates less common and topic-specific lexical items such as 'semi-formal dinner gathering', 'reminisce', 'catering reservations', and 'seating arrangements'. Word choice and collocations are generally accurate and appropriate for an informal yet communicative letter to a friend. Although there are no glaring lexical errors, the range of vocabulary stops just short of the sophisticated, highly flexible control required for the highest band levels, remaining comfortably within a strong Band 7.5 to 8 range.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 8.0

Mark demonstrates a very strong command of grammatical structures, successfully blending simple and complex sentences. He utilizes a variety of dependent and conditional clauses effectively, such as in the sentences beginning with 'Since I am currently handling...' and 'Would you mind taking charge of...'. The majority of sentences in the response are entirely error-free, and punctuation is handled with precision. Control over complex structures is consistent, with only occasional minor slips that do not impede communication in any way. The grammatical range and accuracy align very well with the criteria for Band 8.

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

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