Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-07-31

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 5.5)

Dear Sir or Madam,

I recently used moving truck of your company "U HAUL" to moved in to the new house.

I really appreciate the service that was provided, as my whole furniture and possessions were moved securely to my new accommodation. Especially my expensive utensils that made of glass and ceramic.

On that day, I remember the name of the person who was leading the group at that time so professionally, his name is Amit. He assisted everybody in the group so well that even my father was impressed by his intelligence of carrying furniture and goods with safety and logically.

Moreover, there is one aspect that I am not satisfied with which was responding times while making an appointment for moving truck in person. I waited in queue for straight 2 hours. I understand that is peak season of moving going on but I beleive there should be more than two employees to assist the customers.

Thank you

Jasleen Kaur

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response fails to address the task instructions entirely. The prompt explicitly asks for a letter to a boss regarding a request to reduce working hours for part-time study. However, the student has written a letter of feedback to a moving company about a service experience. Because the content is completely off-topic and does not address any of the bullet points provided in the prompt, it cannot be assessed as a successful completion of the task. In an actual IELTS examination, this would be considered a memorized or irrelevant response, resulting in a very low score for Task Achievement.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The letter is organized into paragraphs, and there is a basic attempt at logical progression within the context of the (irrelevant) topic. The student uses some cohesive devices such as 'Moreover' and 'On that day' to link ideas. However, because the content does not relate to the prompt, the overall coherence is severely undermined. The structure is clear enough to follow the narrative of the moving experience, but it fails to meet the requirements of the task, which limits the effectiveness of the organization.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The vocabulary is adequate for describing a service experience, using terms like 'accommodation', 'professionally', and 'satisfied'. There are some inaccuracies, such as 'intelligence of carrying furniture' (which should be 'skill' or 'care') and 'responding times' (which should be 'wait times'). The range is sufficient to convey the intended meaning of the letter, but it lacks the sophistication or precision required for higher bands. Spelling is generally accurate, though the word 'beleive' is misspelled.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The student uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are several grammatical errors, such as 'I recently used moving truck' (missing article), 'to moved in to' (incorrect verb form), and 'my whole furniture' (should be 'all my furniture'). While these errors are frequent, they do not completely impede communication. The control of punctuation is basic, and the sentence construction is often clunky. The grammar is sufficient for basic communication but lacks the accuracy and variety expected at higher levels.

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