Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

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

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 Smith,

I hope you are doing well, I am writing this letter to inform you that it's been a long time we do not meet each other and thinking to organise a event to celebrate anniversary with all our freinds and classmates.

I am planning to organise this event on our reunion day on 25th October. However, we could arrange photo session where we see our childhood memories, food and the music party. In addition, we can play some board games that we use to pla in our school days.

In my point of view, this will be a good celebration to meet our friends after 10 years, as we all are busy with our life. Although, we can spend a good time with each other and recreate our old memories.

However, I need some help to contact some of our old freinds, as I do not have their phone numbers. I know you are famous among classmates, so I give you responsibility to contact them to come in a event.

I am eager to see all our friends and hope you can contact them make this event successful.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You address all three requested points: you propose a reunion with a photo session, food, music and games; explain that it would let classmates reconnect and revisit memories; and ask your friend to contact former classmates. These details make the purpose clear and relevant. The explanation of why this format would be enjoyable is less developed, however: “spend a good time” and “recreate our old memories” repeat the general idea without explaining what makes the activities especially suitable. The request for help is also clear, but could be more specific about how your friend should contact people or report back. A fuller explanation of these points would make the letter more complete and persuasive.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

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 sequence helps the reader follow your purpose, and linking expressions such as “In addition” and “as” connect related ideas. Some connections are less effective or mechanical, particularly “However” at the start of the event paragraph and again before the request, where the ideas are not contrasting. The opening sentence also combines several points, making the progression less smooth. Use paragraph links that show the actual relationship between ideas, and separate the greeting and purpose into clearer sentences. Your organisation is already coherent, but more natural cohesion would strengthen it.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use enough vocabulary to communicate the main event and request, including “reunion,” “photo session,” “board games,” and “contact.” However, the range is limited and several word choices or collocations sound unnatural, such as “organise a event,” “on our reunion day,” and “famous among classmates.” There are also spelling errors in “freinds” and “pla,” which reduce accuracy. Some phrases, including “spend a good time,” are understandable but not idiomatic. Aim to learn common combinations for invitations and celebrations, and check spelling carefully. More precise, natural wording would help you express the same ideas with greater ease and clarity.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentences, including a reason clause with “as” and a conditional idea about arranging activities. The main message remains understandable, but errors occur in sentence boundaries, verb forms, articles and sentence construction. For example, “I hope you are doing well, I am writing” joins two independent clauses with only a comma, while “it's been a long time we do not meet” uses an inaccurate tense pattern. “I give you responsibility” also needs a more suitable grammatical construction, such as “I’m asking you to take responsibility.” Review article use and verb patterns, and break long sentences into complete units. Greater control of these forms would make your letter smoother and more accurate.

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

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