Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-11-12

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

You would like to reduce your working hours in order to study part time.

Write a letter to your boss. In your letter

• explain why you want to reduce your working hours
• say which hours you would like to work
• describe how your part-time studies would benefit your employer

You do NOT need to write any addresses.

Begin your letter as follows:

Dear ....................................,

Student answer (Band 6.5)

Dear Taylor,

The intent of this correspondence is to bring your attention to this matter and seek an appropriate resolution.

Regarding my study and working hours I would like to highlight a few important observations. I got an offer letter from my dream university, I am afraid I will not able to handle study and full-time work together. I want you to reduce my working hours and make it 20 hours weekly.

I will prefer to work on weekends, I will have off on those days. I would love to do evening shift. On top of that, during my academic career I can also work on holidays.

I will study a course named " Hospitality And Hotel Management." I believe this will be useful for your restaurant too. I am planning to stick with this job for a few years. In future, may be I can work as a manager.

I extend my appreciation for your consideration and I anticipate your valued response at your earliest convenience.

Yours sincerely,

Maitri Bavarva

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

You address all three requested points: you explain that your university offer makes full-time work difficult, request a 20-hour week, and connect Hospitality and Hotel Management to the restaurant and a possible future management role. These relevant details meet the task well. The explanation of the benefit to your employer is promising but brief: saying the course will be “useful for your restaurant” and that you may become a manager would be stronger if you specified skills you expect to gain, such as customer service or staff supervision. The proposed schedule also needs clarification, since “work on weekends” and “evening shift” do not identify particular days or hours. Developing these points would make the request more complete and persuasive.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The letter has a clear overall arrangement: it introduces the request, explains your study plans, proposes a schedule, and then describes a possible benefit to the employer. Paragraphing helps the reader follow these stages. However, some linking and reference choices feel mechanical or unclear. The opening, “The intent of this correspondence,” is very formal and does not directly lead into the request, while “Regarding my study and working hours” introduces several ideas without a smooth connection between them. The schedule paragraph also moves from weekends to evening shifts and holidays without explaining how these fit together. Use more direct transitions and make the relationship between your preferred days, shifts, and total hours explicit.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.5

You use an adequate range for a workplace letter, including phrases such as “reduce my working hours,” “evening shift,” and “Hospitality and Hotel Management.” Some less common expressions show ambition, but several are not natural or well matched to this personal request. “The intent of this correspondence” and “your valued response at your earliest convenience” sound overly formal, while “I got an offer letter” is less precise than a phrase describing acceptance or an offer of admission. “I will have off on those days” is also awkward wording. Aim for professional but natural language, and choose collocations that clearly express your situation and proposed arrangement.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and more complex sentence forms, and the main message remains clear. Some grammatical errors occur, particularly in verb forms and sentence construction. For example, “I am afraid I will not able to handle” needs “be” before “able,” and “I want you to reduce my working hours and make it 20 hours weekly” has an unclear subject for “make.” The sentence beginning “I got an offer letter from my dream university, I am afraid…” joins two independent clauses with only a comma. There are also missing articles in “during my academic career” depending on the intended meaning, and “may be” should be written as one word when it means “perhaps.” Review clause boundaries and verb patterns while retaining your attempts at longer sentences.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.