Unsaturated soils are a common feature in many regions worldwide and play a crucial role in various geotechnical engineering applications. However, the complex and timeconsuming nature of determining unsaturated soil properties limit the practical application of unsaturated soil mechanics. As a result, various simpler and indirect methodologies have emerged to quantify unsaturated soil properties. These indirect procedures, primarily utilize the soil water characteristic curve and saturated soil properties. Thus, analysis of unsaturated soils behavior requires the knowledge of soil water characteristics curve, which is the relation between soil matric suction and water content. The soil water characteristics curve serves as a valuable tool for measuring unsaturated soil properties, but conducting laboratory tests to establish it involves significant time and cost. The laboratory equipment for measuring soil water characteristic curve is also not commonly available. Therefore, a predictive mathematical model based on basic index soil properties is needed. In this study, a simplified model that can predict the Fredlund & Xing (1994) model fitting parameters which used to establish the soil water characteristic curve from basic index soil properties for red clay soils found in Bahir Dar was proposed. This study is done on the basis of experimental findings. Various laboratory tests were performed on fifteen soil samples obtained from Bahir Dar city. The soil water characteristic curve data points determined from filter paper method were curve fitted with Fredlund & Xing (1994) model and the corresponding fitting parameters were generated. After obtaining the curve fitting parameters, regression analyses were performed with JMP® Pro14 statistical software to predict the relationships between the Fredlund & Xing (1994) curve fitting parameters and basic index soil properties. A new prediction model of fitting parameters was proposed for estimating soil water characteristic curve. The proposed model was verified by applying them to primary and secondary soils data, which were not included in developing the model. This study brings out that an improvement over the existing models. The results of validation studies suggest that the proposed model can provide relatively better prediction of the soil water characteristic curve of the soils in study area. Keywords: Filter paper, Matric suction, Prediction model, Soil water characteristics curve, Unsaturated soil