Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-08-17
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 5.5)
Dear Sir or Madam,
I hope you are doing well.I am writing this letter to you as I would like to express my interest in part time voluntary work at the museum.
I am university student continuing my studies in history. I am keen interested to gain knowledge regarding different cultures and their connection with other cultures. It is a great opportunity to enhance my experience as well as to do something useful for community.
The background studies has positive impact which helps to boost the awareness and provide data to people of different museum sectors.In addition, the communication skills make the environment more comfortable for individuals.I would prefer to work on weekends.Moreover, we would discuss the further details through meet and greet session.
I am looking forward to hear from you.
Yours Sincerely,
Suman
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0
The letter addresses all three bullet points: the reason for volunteering, skills/qualities, and availability. However, the response is significantly under the 150-word minimum, which limits the development of ideas. The explanation of why you want to volunteer is somewhat generic, and the description of skills is vague; for example, stating 'The background studies has positive impact' is unclear and lacks specific detail regarding how your history studies would benefit the museum. To improve, you should expand on your specific interests in history and provide concrete examples of how your communication skills have been used in previous settings. The under-length nature of the response prevents a higher score.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0
The letter is organised into logical paragraphs, and there is a basic attempt to use cohesive devices such as 'In addition' and 'Moreover'. However, the flow between sentences is sometimes disjointed. For instance, the transition from discussing background studies to communication skills feels abrupt. The use of referencing is occasionally unclear, such as in the sentence 'The background studies has positive impact', where the connection to the previous paragraph is weak. Paragraphing is present, but the overall progression of ideas could be smoother with more varied linking words and better sentence-to-sentence connectivity.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task but lacks variety and precision. You use basic phrases like 'doing well' and 'useful for community'. There are some awkward collocations, such as 'keen interested' (should be 'keenly interested' or 'very interested') and 'meet and greet session', which is not the most appropriate term for a formal interview or meeting. While the meaning is clear, the range of vocabulary is limited, and there is little evidence of less common lexical items or idiomatic language that would demonstrate a higher level of proficiency.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The response contains a mix of simple and some complex sentence structures. However, there are several grammatical errors that occur throughout the text. Examples include missing articles ('at the museum' vs 'at museum'), subject-verb agreement issues ('The background studies has'), and awkward phrasing ('I am university student'). Punctuation is also inconsistent, with missing spaces after periods (e.g., 'well.I'). While these errors do not completely impede communication, they are frequent enough to suggest a lack of control over more complex structures. Focusing on basic accuracy and proofreading for small errors would be beneficial.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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