Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-16

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

Student answer (Band 6.5)

Dear Mr Smith,

I'm writing this letter to apologize for not attending an annual comapy meeting last week.

First and formost, I had a family emergency at home because my mother slipped out from the stairs, and injured her back. At that time, nobody was at home to take her to the hospital. So, I had to stick around with her because I'm the only child of my parents', and she was also relied on me. I know the importance of the event that I missed was not just for the company's growth but it was also very crucial for individuals for better business opportunities.

But I've already rescheduled a meeting with Mr Brown, and he has also agreed to discuss the bullet points of the event with me. I'd cover all the topics of the meetings to speed up with the other employees.

Thank you for your understanding.

Your sincerely,

Gurpreet Saini

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

The response covers all parts of the letter appropriately, maintaining a consistent formal tone and clearly explaining the reason for missing the meeting. The purpose of the correspondence is fully achieved from the opening sentence. The writer explains the family emergency involving the mother, who slipped on the stairs, and highlights the consequences of missing the annual company meeting. Furthermore, the writer provides a constructive solution by mentioning that a follow-up meeting has been rescheduled with Mr Brown to cover the missed bullet points. The ideas are relevant, appropriately extended, and suitable for a general training task. Although the explanation is slightly brief, it completely fulfils the communicative purpose required by the prompt, earning a solid Band 7.0 for fully addressing all parts of the task with a clear tone and relevant ideas.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The letter demonstrates clear logical organisation and natural progression throughout. The response is properly structured with an appropriate salutation, an introductory paragraph stating the purpose, body paragraphs detailing the emergency and the rescheduled plan, and a formal sign-off. Cohesive devices such as 'First and foremost', 'At that time', and 'So' are utilised to connect ideas, although some transitions feel a bit conversational. Paragraphing is used sufficiently and appropriately, separating the apology, the explanation, the remediation plan, and the closing remarks logically. Referencing is generally clear, and the overall progression guides the reader smoothly from the apology to the future action. This aligns closely with the Band 7 descriptors for clear logical organisation and flexible use of cohesive devices.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.5

The vocabulary used is generally adequate and precise enough to convey the necessary details for a workplace apology. The writer successfully employs less common vocabulary such as 'family emergency', 'rescheduled', and 'bullet points'. However, there are minor lexical inaccuracies and spelling errors, such as 'comapy' instead of 'company' and 'First and formost' instead of 'foremost'. Phrases like 'she was also relied on me' contain unnatural collocations, as the mother relied on the writer rather than the other way around. Despite these occasional errors in word choice and spelling, the range is sufficient for flexibility and precision, and communication is never impeded. These characteristics place the lexical performance comfortably at Band 6.5.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The writer demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, incorporating subordinate clauses effectively, such as in 'I had to stick around with her because I'm the only child'. There are several grammatical errors and awkward structures present, notably 'slipped out from the stairs' instead of 'slipped on the stairs', 'stick around with her' which is overly informal for a workplace letter, and the double possessive error 'parents' instead of 'parents'. Additionally, 'she was also relied on me' represents a passive voice misuse. However, these errors rarely impede communication, and the overall meaning remains clear throughout the text. The presence of frequent minor errors alongside complex sentence attempts justifies a Band 6.0 rating.

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