Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-08-08

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 Sir or Madam,

My name is Harmandeep Singh, working as an administrative assistant at your company. I am writing regarding my working hours and would like to reduce it in order to study part time.

I opted at college in payroll assistant diploma and my schedule comes up with three days a week. It will be not possible to work seven days a week as I am a single parent.

I recommend you to reduce my hours to 24 hours per week on any day between Thursday and Sunday so that I can work and study both efficiently. Despite this, I can assure you that I will cover my pending work smoothly.

Also, my education credentials would enhance my skills and contribute towards your organization. As you know, our payroll specialist is retiring soon, I will be happy to learn new job duties if you insist.

I hope to hearing from you soon.

Yours Faithfully,

Harmandeep Singh

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The letter addresses all three bullet points of the prompt. You clearly explain the reason for the request, specify the desired hours, and outline the benefits to the employer. The tone is generally appropriate for a formal letter to a boss. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited; for instance, the explanation of how your studies benefit the employer could be more detailed. While you mention the retiring payroll specialist, connecting your specific diploma to the company's needs more explicitly would have strengthened the response. Overall, the task is fully addressed, though the depth of the arguments could be improved to reach a higher band.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The letter follows a logical structure with clear paragraphing. Each paragraph focuses on a specific aspect of the prompt, which helps the reader follow your argument. You use some cohesive devices, such as 'Also' and 'Despite this', to link ideas. However, some transitions feel slightly mechanical or abrupt. For example, the transition between your personal situation and the request for hours could be smoother. The use of referencing is generally clear, and the overall progression of the letter is logical, making it easy to follow the request from start to finish.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'administrative assistant', 'education credentials', and 'payroll specialist'. There are some minor inaccuracies in word choice, such as 'I opted at college in payroll assistant diploma', which is not a natural collocation. Additionally, 'I hope to hearing from you' contains a grammatical error that affects the lexical flow. While you successfully convey your meaning, the range of vocabulary is somewhat limited, and there is a lack of more sophisticated or precise collocations that would elevate the response to a higher band.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are several grammatical errors, such as 'would like to reduce it' (referring to 'hours', which is plural), 'I opted at college in', and 'I hope to hearing'. These errors are noticeable but do not impede communication. The sentence 'It will be not possible' is also slightly awkward. To improve, focus on subject-verb agreement and the correct use of gerunds after certain verbs. While the meaning is always clear, the frequency of these small errors prevents a higher score in this category.

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

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