Letter to Friend's Parents About a Surprise Birthday Party

The parents of your Australian friend Chris have invited you to a surprise birthday party for him/her. Write a letter to Chris’s parents. In your letter • say why you think Chris will enjoy the surprise party • explain why you won’t be able to attend the party • give details of a plan to see Chris at a different time. You do NOT need to write any addresses. Begin your letter as follows: Dear Mr and Mrs Collins,

Annotated response

5 correction notes

Dear Mr. and Mrs. ,

I hope you are both doing well. I was delighted to receive your invitation to Chris’s surprise birthday party. I can already imagine how thrilled Chris will be! He has always loved surprises, and with all his close friends and family around, I am sure this celebration will be truly special for him.

Unfortunately, I won’t be able to attend the party as I have to be at the airport to in the evening on that day. I simply cannot reschedule it even though I ! I am really disappointed to miss such a wonderful occasion, but I know Chris will have an amazing time with everyone there.

However, I would love to make it up to him! I was thinking of taking Chris out for a special lunch the following weekend at his favourite restaurant. That way, I can celebrate his birthday with him in a more personal way and also hear all about the surprise party!

Thank you again for the kind invitation. I hope the party turns out to be a fantastic and memorable event. Please do pass on my best wishes to Chris!

Warm regards,

Lucas

Overall assessment

Why this response received Band 7.5

The letter is fluent, warmly pitched, and covers all three bullet points with well-developed, relevant detail. Its strongest aspect is the natural, consistently appropriate tone; the main limitation is the mismatch with the prompt's salutation, addressed to 'Mr. and Mrs. Cooper' rather than the Collins family, alongside only lightly elaborated reasons.

IELTS criteria

How each score was decided

Task Achievement

7.5

The letter addresses all three bullet points clearly with an appropriate warm, semi-formal register and plausible detail, though the incorrect salutation name and somewhat brief elaboration of the airport commitment slightly limit full coverage.

Coherence and Cohesion

8.0

Ideas progress logically across paragraphs with cohesive devices such as 'Unfortunately' and 'However' used naturally, giving a message that flows effortlessly throughout.

Lexical Resource

7.5

Vocabulary is flexible and natural for the context, with phrases like 'truly special for him' and 'in a more personal way', though occasionally conventional rather than precise.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy

7.5

A good range of sentence structures is used accurately, including complex forms like 'even though I would very much want to', with only rare minor slips.

More responses with feedback

View all 3 responses (7.0–7.5)