Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-08-14

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

A museum near your home is looking for people to do part-time voluntary/unpaid work. You would like to do some voluntary/unpaid work at the museum. Write a letter to the museum director to apply for the voluntary/unpaid work. In your letter

• explain why you want to do voluntary/unpaid work at the museum
• describe some skills and qualities you have that would be useful
• give details of when you would be available for work

You do NOT need to write any addresses.

Begin your letter as follows:

Dear Sir or Madam,

Student answer (Band 6.5)

Dear sir or Madam,

I hope all is well.

My name is Shivam, and I am writing this email to apply for a part time volunteer position which recently got opened at your museum.

The prominent reason to apply for this position is to get some real life experience, before I step in the real world. As I have seen, people usually come to visit the museum, and I have also seen many foreigners occasionally come for a visit, so this will give me an opportunity to improve my language as well. In addition, I may become able to understand people's behavior. This may help me to crack in the real world.

Furthermore, I believe I have some qualities which I can utilize and that may help other people in the museum. The first is excellent communication skill, a wonderful hospitality skill and more.

Coming to the availability part, I am available on weekends and on Thursday evening. Weekend because I do not have my classes, and Thursday evening because I finish my classes early.

I hope to hear positive from you, and will get an opportunity to have some real time work experience.

Thank you and have a pleasant day.

Sincerely,

Shivam Desai

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

You have successfully addressed all three bullet points of the prompt. You explained your motivation for volunteering, outlined your skills, and provided your availability. The tone is generally appropriate for a formal letter. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited. For instance, when mentioning your skills, you list 'excellent communication skill' and 'wonderful hospitality skill' but do not elaborate on how these would specifically benefit the museum. To reach a higher band, try to provide concrete examples of how your skills would be applied in a museum setting, such as assisting with guided tours or managing visitor inquiries.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The letter follows a logical structure with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a closing. You use basic cohesive devices like 'In addition,' 'Furthermore,' and 'Coming to the availability part' to transition between ideas. While these are functional, the flow is occasionally a bit mechanical. The paragraphing is appropriate for a formal letter. To improve, try to use a wider variety of linking words and ensure that the progression of ideas within paragraphs is smoother. For example, the transition between your motivation and your skills could be more tightly integrated to improve the overall flow of the argument.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'prominent reason,' 'utilize,' and 'pleasant.' However, there are some instances of slightly unnatural phrasing, such as 'crack in the real world' and 'get an opportunity to have some real time work experience.' These choices are understandable but lack the precision expected at higher bands. To improve, focus on learning more natural collocations and idiomatic expressions suitable for professional correspondence. Your spelling is accurate throughout, which is a positive aspect of your writing.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is always clear, there are several grammatical inaccuracies. For example, 'position which recently got opened' should be 'position which recently opened' or 'was recently opened.' Additionally, 'I hope to hear positive from you' should be 'I hope to hear positively from you' or 'I look forward to hearing from you.' There are also minor issues with article usage and prepositional phrases. Increasing your control over complex sentence structures and refining your proofreading to catch these small errors will help you achieve a higher score.

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

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