Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-11-01

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 Sarah,

I hope you are doing well.

It's Been ten years since i left the college i got so busy in many things that i could not get enough time to meet any one from my college. I miss you all a lot and i feel like it's a perfect time to organise a celebrate this anniversary with all of my college friends. That's why i am trying to pen down my thoughts and how excited i am about this celebration.

It would be great to sit togather and recall all those beautiful memories which we made togather. We all will come together under one roof all the friends and we will discuss our life's struggles and happinessand everthing and it's a nice time to come closer to each other once again.

I need your help to organise this event can you help me in finding and contacting all of our close friends and classmates? It would be a great help and also help me in deciding the menu as well.

I am Looking forward to hear from you.

Regards,

Rabbia

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You address all three requested points: you propose a reunion, explain that classmates can recall shared memories and reconnect, and ask Sarah to contact friends and help choose the menu. The purpose is clear and relevant. However, the event itself remains quite general: “sit together” and “under one roof” do not specify what kind of celebration you have in mind, such as a dinner or a college reunion party. The reasons are also repeated rather than extended, and the request for help could be more specific about practical arrangements. Develop these details so each part of the task is covered more fully.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The letter has a sensible overall order: you introduce the anniversary, explain the appeal of meeting again, and then ask for help. Paragraphing supports this progression, and the opening and closing make the format recognisable as a personal letter. Some links between ideas are less smooth, however. The long second paragraph combines several thoughts, while “That's why” does not clearly connect the preceding explanation to the act of writing. Repeated use of “and” also makes the middle section feel like a list. Separate the event idea from its benefits and use clearer links, such as “We could also…” or “To make this happen…”.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant vocabulary for a friendly reunion, including “anniversary,” “memories,” “classmates,” and “organise,” so the reader can understand the main message. There are also attempts at more expressive phrasing, such as “come closer to each other once again.” However, some word choices and collocations are inaccurate or awkward: “organise a celebrate” should be “organise a celebration,” and “pen down my thoughts” is less natural here than “share my ideas.” Spelling and spacing errors, including “togather,” “everthing,” and “happinessand,” are noticeable. Aim for accurate, natural phrases and proofread carefully to improve precision.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and longer sentence forms, and the main message remains understandable. The request “Can you help me in finding and contacting…” shows an attempt to express a detailed action. However, some longer sentences are not controlled well: “It's Been ten years since i left the college i got so busy…” joins several clauses without appropriate sentence boundaries. There are also errors with articles and forms, as in “the college” and “a celebrate,” and inconsistent capitalisation of “Been,” “i,” and “Looking.” Use full stops to separate complete ideas, check article use, and maintain consistent sentence punctuation and capitalisation.

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

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