Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-08-09

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 6.0)

Dear Sir,

I am writing this to make a request regarding the reduction of my working hours.

To start with, I have been working for this company from past 3 years. Also, I always keen to learn different skills to improves my performance. Likewise, at this moment, I have enrolled for the short course of Marketing Strategies. For this reason, I would request you to reduce my working hours so that I could focus in the learning course.

Moreover, this course will last for 3 hours on weekdays. Therefore, I would prefer to complete my job around 3 in the afternoon everyday. I would be grateful if you could consider this condition. This new skills would also be benefit to this company for selling products to the targeted customers in order to make considerable profit.

I look forward to your response to this matter. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Yours faithfully,

Dhvani Tailor.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The letter addresses all three bullet points required by the prompt. You clearly state the reason for the request (enrolling in a marketing course), specify the desired working hours (finishing at 3 PM), and explain the benefit to the employer (applying new skills to sales). The tone is appropriate for a formal letter to a boss. To improve, you could expand slightly on the specific nature of the 'Marketing Strategies' course to make the benefit to the employer more concrete and persuasive, which would help move your response into a higher band.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The letter is logically organized with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a formal closing. You use basic cohesive devices such as 'To start with', 'Moreover', and 'Therefore' to link your ideas. While the flow is generally clear, some transitions feel slightly mechanical. To improve, try to vary your linking words and ensure that the progression between sentences is smoother. The paragraphing is appropriate for a formal letter, which helps the reader follow your request easily.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, such as 'reduction', 'enrolled', and 'considerable profit'. However, there are some minor errors in word choice and collocation, such as 'from past 3 years' (should be 'for the past 3 years') and 'this new skills would also be benefit' (should be 'these new skills would also be beneficial'). To reach a higher band, focus on using more precise collocations and ensure subject-verb agreement when using plural nouns.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is always clear, there are several grammatical slips, such as 'I always keen' (missing the verb 'am'), 'improves my performance' (should be 'improve'), and 'focus in the learning course' (should be 'focus on'). These errors are frequent but do not impede communication. To improve, pay closer attention to verb forms and prepositions. Increasing the variety of complex sentence structures while maintaining accuracy will help you achieve a higher score.

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

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