Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-09-21
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 am writing this to express my interest to join part time voluntress position at your museum. My main objective is not only spend my summer vocation as a productive manner but also acquire a social service experience for my future job as my aim to become a tour guide.
Moreover, the skills and quailities ,such as good communication, coopertation discipline ,
which I was obtained during school time by participated social events , make me perfect for this position. Apart from this , I belongs to history department so I could decribe the museum items , like musical instruments and poineer history well to the visitors.
Regarding my availability, I am availabe from Monday to Thusrdays ,between 11am and 4 pm, but I am unavailable Friday as I go to chursh , and weekends due to some family commitments.
Thank you for your time and consideration. I hope you will get me a chance to join your museum.
Yours Sincerely.
Manpreet Kaur
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 6.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0
The response successfully covers all bullet points required in the prompt. The candidate explains why they want to do voluntary work, mentioning both a desire to spend the summer productively and the goal of becoming a tour guide. Useful skills and qualities such as communication and cooperation are outlined, along with relevant historical knowledge. Finally, specific details regarding work availability from Monday to Thursday are clearly stated. Although there are minor unnatural phrasings such as 'voluntress position' and 'pioneer history', the purpose and content of the letter are fully communicated, fulfilling the requirements for Band 6.5 or a solid Band 6 overall.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0
The letter follows a coherent overall arrangement with a clear paragraph structure. Each paragraph addresses a specific prompt requirement, from the opening statement of purpose in paragraph one to skills and availability in subsequent paragraphs. Cohesive devices such as 'Moreover', 'Apart from this', and 'Regarding my availability' are used to guide the reader through the text. However, referencing is occasionally awkward, and mechanical transitional phrases slightly detract from natural flow. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate ideas logically, but minor cohesion errors prevent it from reaching a higher band level.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The candidate demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting less common items such as 'productive manner', 'social service experience', and 'commitments'. However, there are noticeable word-choice and spelling errors, such as 'voluntress' instead of 'volunteer position', 'vocation' instead of 'vacation', 'quailities', 'coopertation', 'belongs to' instead of 'am studying in', and 'chursh'. Despite these inaccuracies, the vocabulary is sufficient to convey the intended meaning without severely impeding communication, placing the response firmly in the Band 5.5 to 6.0 range.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The writing shows a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as 'My main objective is not only spend my summer vocation... but also acquire...'. There are frequent grammatical errors throughout the text, including tense and preposition misuse, missing prepositions ('interest to join'), and incorrect article usage. For instance, 'which I was obtained' contains a passive voice error, and 'I hope you will get me a chance' is unnatural. Punctuation spacing around commas is also erratic. While these errors are noticeable and require some effort from the reader to interpret, basic meaning remains understandable, aligning with the Band 5 descriptors.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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