Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-08-20

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 6.0)

Dear Sir

I am writing to express my interest in part-time voluntary work at the museum. I have a bachelor's degree in Arts and interest in history subsequently has a fascination for old relics. Therefore I would be glad working in the museum. I am so keen to work here that I would except an unpaid work as well.

Apart from degree and interest in Arts as mentioned above, I have a computer training which might be helpful for the museum library, since database is maintained online nowadays. I could be useful in accessing the database even give new inputs to it. Furthermore, I have visited the museum number of times and read about most of the exhibits, so I will be able to help the visitors about the history of different exhibits.

Since I have a full time job, I will be able to work on Saturday and Sunday on any shift.

I therefore pray and hope that you would consider me for voluntary work at the museum.

Yours faithfully

Jamil

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The letter covers all three bullet points required by the prompt. You clearly explain your motivation for volunteering, provide relevant skills such as computer literacy and historical knowledge, and specify your availability. The tone is generally appropriate for a formal letter, although the opening salutation 'Dear Sir' is slightly less standard than the requested 'Dear Sir or Madam'. The ideas are relevant and well-developed, providing enough detail for the reader to understand your suitability for the role. To reach a higher band, ensure that all instructions, including the specific opening salutation provided in the prompt, are followed precisely.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The letter is logically organized into clear paragraphs, each addressing a specific part of the task. You use some cohesive devices such as 'Therefore', 'Apart from', and 'Furthermore' to connect your ideas. However, the flow is occasionally hindered by slightly awkward phrasing, such as 'interest in history subsequently has a fascination'. The transition between sentences could be smoother to improve the overall progression of the letter. The use of paragraphing is appropriate, and the letter follows a standard formal structure, which helps the reader follow your argument without difficulty.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'voluntary work', 'relics', 'exhibits', and 'database'. However, there are some inaccuracies in word choice and collocation. For example, 'except an unpaid work' should be 'accept unpaid work', and 'I therefore pray and hope' is overly dramatic and not standard for a professional application. While your vocabulary is sufficient to convey your meaning clearly, it lacks the precision and natural collocation required for higher bands. Expanding your use of professional, task-specific collocations would improve your score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are several grammatical errors that occur throughout the text. Examples include 'interest in history subsequently has a fascination' (missing subject/awkward structure), 'I have a computer training' (incorrect article usage), and 'help the visitors about the history' (preposition error). While these errors do not impede communication, they are frequent enough to prevent a higher score. To improve, focus on subject-verb agreement, correct article usage, and ensuring that complex sentences are constructed with grammatical precision.

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

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