Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-18

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 foremost, 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.

Yours sincerely,

Gurpreet Saini

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

The response covers all key requirements of a formal apology letter. You successfully explain the reason for missing the annual company meeting, detailing the family emergency involving your mother's injury, and you offer a solution by mentioning that you have rescheduled a meeting with Mr Brown to catch up on missed topics. The purpose of the letter is clear and maintained throughout. The tone is appropriately formal and polite for a workplace communication addressed to Mr Smith. Although some of the explanation regarding the meeting's importance is slightly wordy, all parts of the task are well addressed and fully communicated to the reader.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The letter exhibits a clear logical organisation and progression from the opening statement of apology to the reasons for absence, the resolution, and the closing thanks. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate distinct ideas, such as the emergency in the second paragraph and the makeup plan in the third paragraph. Cohesive devices are used reasonably well, with transitional phrases like 'First and foremost' and 'But I've already rescheduled'. However, referencing and transitions could be slightly smoother, as evidenced by 'she was also relied on me', which creates minor friction in logical flow. Overall, the message is coherent and easy to follow throughout the response.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The vocabulary used is generally adequate for the task, successfully communicating everyday and workplace scenarios. You attempt some less common vocabulary and idiomatic phrases, such as 'family emergency', 'rescheduled a meeting', and 'bullet points'. However, there are some noticeable inaccuracies in word choice and collocation. For example, 'comapy' is a spelling error, 'slipped out from the stairs' should be 'slipped on the stairs', 'stick around with her' is overly informal for a business letter, and 'she was also relied on me' is grammatically awkward. These lexical errors limit the band score, but communication is never impeded.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The response demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, including relative clauses and conditional-style reasoning. There are several control issues and grammatical errors, notably 'comapy' (spelling), 'slipped out from the stairs', 'I'm the only child of my parents', and 'she was also relied on me' (passive voice misuse). Additionally, 'I'd cover all the topics of the meetings' contains a tense inconsistency. While these errors occur with some frequency, the majority of simple structures are accurate, and your meaning remains clear to the reader without significant difficulty.

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