Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-11-04

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 Maryum,

I hope you are doing well. It has been decade since I left college. I would Like to arrange an event by inviting all my friends and classmates to celebrate this anniversary, so I thought I would get in touch to see if you'd like to come over for a party.

As it is a ceremonial event, I thought we could do something special. So far, the plan is to go out for a fancy meal at Nova restaurant. Then, we will go out to a karaoke bar and see where the night takes us. How does that sound?!

I think it would be good to celebrate in this way as we have a lot of quality time spending together and remake memories, after ten years of our last meetup. We will be able to meet our old classmates and friends.

I like to organize this beautiful event because I was looking at the photos from our welcome party, so many amazing memories! Do you remember, Hina and Sikandr from the course? Well, they are getting married! They'll be at the dinner so you can catch up with them too.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Best wishes,

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.5

The letter gives a clear idea of the celebration: dinner at Nova restaurant followed by karaoke, and it explains that this would allow friends to spend time together and revisit memories. The personal details about old photographs and classmates getting married also make the invitation relevant. However, the task’s request to describe what help you need is not addressed: there is no specific request for Maryum to contact classmates, make a booking, or help with arrangements. The reason for choosing this format is also only briefly explained. To strengthen the response, develop that reason and add a direct, practical request for your friend’s help.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The letter has a recognisable structure, moving from an opening and invitation to the proposed activities, reasons, and a closing. Paragraphing helps separate these points, and phrases such as “So far, the plan” and “Well” guide the reader through the message. However, the progression is not fully controlled: the paragraph beginning “I like to organize this beautiful event” repeats the purpose and then shifts to wedding news, rather than developing the organisation or requested help. Some links between ideas are also mechanical, particularly the repeated use of “So” and “I think.” Group related information more tightly and use a final paragraph to make a clear request of Maryum.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

The vocabulary is adequate for a friendly invitation and includes some useful, specific expressions, such as “fancy meal,” “karaoke bar,” “catch up,” and “amazing memories.” These choices make the event easy to picture and the tone generally suits a friend. There are, however, several inaccurate or unnatural combinations, including “quality time spending together,” “remake memories,” and “ceremonial event.” “Come over for a party” also suggests a gathering at someone’s home, which does not quite match the restaurant and karaoke plan. Choose more natural collocations and precise wording, such as “spend quality time together,” “reminisce,” and “reunion celebration,” to make the message sound more fluent.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

The response uses a mix of simple and more complex sentences, including the conditional “if you’d like to come” and the relative clause “Hina and Sikandr from the course.” Most meaning remains clear, and the writer handles the future plan with forms such as “we will go out” and “They’ll be at the dinner.” Some grammatical errors remain, however: “It has been decade” needs an article, “we have a lot of quality time spending together” has an incorrect verb pattern, and “after ten years of our last meetup” is not a well-formed time expression. Capitalisation in “Like” and punctuation around “How does that sound?!” also need attention. Proofread articles, verb patterns, and sentence punctuation.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.