Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-10-07

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 Lucky,

I hope you're doing well. I am writing this letter to share some exciting news, which is regarding to celebrate the sepical anniversery with all our bachmates.

I'm trying to celebrate my 30th birthday for which I'm looking for small resturant with spacious space. Also, I'm thinking to organize the games which we'll used to play during our college.

It's been ten years we left the college so I think this would be a best time to celebrate my birthday together. By this, it will not only refresh our old memories but also get time to meet each other after so long.

I really need your help in finding the contacts of some of our friends as you're always in touch of everyone so you can contact them by their phone numbers or through social media.

I hope you like my idea and getting excited to meet everyone.

Yours truly,

Parneet

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You address all three bullet points: you propose a restaurant gathering with games from college, explain that it would revive memories and let classmates reconnect, and ask Lucky to help contact former friends. The purpose is clear and the tone is suitable for a friendly letter. However, the event is confusingly described as both a ten-year college reunion and your “30th birthday”; this makes the central plan less clear. The reason for choosing this format is relevant but brief, and the request for help could be more specific—for example, asking Lucky to compile a guest list or confirm who can attend. Clarifying the occasion and developing these details would make the response more complete and persuasive.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The letter has a clear overall arrangement: an opening, a paragraph describing the event, an explanation of its value, a request for help, and a closing. This makes the main points easy to locate. You also use basic links such as “Also,” “so,” and “By this” to connect ideas. Some connections are less smooth or precise, however. The shift from the ten-year anniversary to a birthday interrupts the progression, while “By this” does not clearly refer to the proposed gathering. The final sentence, “I hope you like my idea and getting excited,” also feels disconnected from the request. Use clearer references and transitions, and keep the event description consistent, to improve the flow.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use enough vocabulary to communicate the main ideas, including “celebrate,” “refresh our old memories,” “spacious space,” and “social media.” The language is generally understandable, but the range is limited and several noticeable spelling, word-choice, and collocation errors reduce precision. Examples include “sepical anniversery,” “bachmates,” “resturant,” and “in touch of everyone.” Some phrases are also repetitive or unnatural, such as “spacious space” and “celebrate my birthday together.” Choose more conventional expressions for a reunion and venue, and check spelling carefully. More precise vocabulary would help distinguish the anniversary celebration from the birthday and make the invitation sound more natural.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, including the relative clause in “a small restaurant … for which I’m looking” and the contrast in “not only … but also.” The message remains understandable, but some grammatical errors affect accuracy. For example, “which we’ll used to play” combines incompatible verb forms; write “which we used to play” or “which we’ll play.” “It’s been ten years we left the college” needs a time construction such as “It’s been ten years since we left college,” and “a best time” needs “the best time.” The final phrase “I hope you like my idea and getting excited” also lacks parallel structure. Review verb patterns, articles, and sentence construction to make your varied attempts more controlled.

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

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