Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-08-04

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,

Hope you are doing well. I am writing a letter to you to reduce my workig hours. As I have been working here for a year and I observed that I need to take special classes to learn about SAP system which we are using in office.

our office timing is 10:00AM to 6:00PM, and SAP class is 4:00PM to 6:00PM. So, if I leave the office two ours earlier I could manage to take the class. It is one month course and there will be effective learning.

As we are using SAP in our office, I want to upskill myself. There are many T codes and movement types for which I still required assistance from my senior despite of working for a year. Sometime they kept busy in thier work and I had to wait for them. I need a proper session to go through its all T codes in detail. Your cooperation in this regards would be helpful.

Regards,

Umair Ali.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

You have addressed all three bullet points required by the prompt: explaining the reason for the request, specifying the desired hours, and describing the benefits to the employer. The tone is generally appropriate for a formal letter to a supervisor. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited. For instance, the explanation of how the SAP training benefits the employer could be more persuasive by explicitly linking your improved efficiency to the company's productivity. While the task is fully addressed, the depth of the argument is basic, which keeps the response at a mid-level band.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The letter follows a logical progression, moving from the request to the specific details and finally the benefits. Paragraphing is present, though the structure is slightly disjointed due to the short, choppy sentences. You use some cohesive devices like 'As', 'So', and 'However', but the flow between sentences could be improved with more varied transition words. The referencing is generally clear, but the overall organization feels a bit mechanical. To improve, try to link your sentences more fluidly to create a smoother narrative flow.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary is adequate for the task but lacks variety and precision. You rely on basic terms like 'work', 'office', and 'help'. There are some minor errors in word choice, such as 'despite of working' (should be 'despite working' or 'in spite of working') and 'in this regards' (should be 'in this regard'). While you successfully use technical terms like 'SAP' and 'T codes', the overall range is limited. To reach a higher band, try to incorporate more sophisticated collocations and avoid repetitive phrasing.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

You demonstrate a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors that occasionally distract the reader. Examples include 'I am writing a letter to you to reduce my workig hours' (awkward phrasing), 'two ours' (spelling error), 'It is one month course' (missing article), and 'Sometime they kept busy' (subject-verb agreement/tense error). While these errors do not prevent the message from being understood, they are frequent enough to impact the overall accuracy of the writing. Focusing on proofreading for articles and verb tenses will significantly improve your score.

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

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