Band 4.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.0 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-08-07

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 4.0)

Dear Priya,

I hope this letter finds you well. I am writing this letter to provide you some guidance regarding new accommodation.

First of all, I would like to congratulate you for your new job. Secondly, regarding your new house, it would be suitable to look for an area that has a quite neighbourhood, nearby transportation facilities, and especially, grocery and convenient stores at your ease.

As far as I know about you, the location fulfilling all these requirements would be a suitable for you. Moreover, a park near to your home will be an addition asset since you always enjoy doing excercises outdoors.

In order to locate a suitable place, either you can sign up online for different renting companies or you can also find an agent who could suggest a place with better prices available on the market.

Hope to hear from you soon.

Your friend,

Supreet

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 1.0

The response is completely off-topic. The task required a letter to a boss requesting a reduction in working hours to study part-time, covering specific points like the reasons, preferred hours, and benefits to the employer. Instead, the student wrote a letter to a friend named Priya offering advice on finding new accommodation. Because the response fails to address any of the bullet points or the core purpose of the prompt, it cannot be assessed as a successful completion of the task. Additionally, the response is slightly under the minimum word count requirement, which further impacts the score.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The letter is logically organized as a piece of correspondence. It uses basic paragraphing and some cohesive devices such as 'First of all', 'Secondly', and 'Moreover' to connect ideas. However, because the content is entirely irrelevant to the prompt, the coherence is undermined by the lack of a logical connection to the task instructions. The progression of ideas is clear within the context of the letter written, but it does not serve the purpose of the examination task.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary is adequate for a simple letter, though it is somewhat repetitive and contains minor errors. Examples include 'quite neighbourhood' (should be 'quiet'), 'convenient stores' (should be 'convenience stores'), and 'addition asset' (should be 'additional asset'). While the student attempts to use some descriptive language, the range is limited and does not demonstrate the flexibility required for higher bands. The errors in word choice and spelling are noticeable but do not prevent the reader from understanding the intended message of the letter.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The student uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are several grammatical errors, such as 'congratulate you for your new job' (should be 'on'), 'a suitable for you' (article error), and 'doing excercises' (spelling error). Punctuation is generally functional, but the control over sentence structure is inconsistent. While the meaning is usually clear, the frequency of errors in basic grammar and word formation prevents the writing from reaching a higher band. The sentence variety is limited to standard structures.

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

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