Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · 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 6.5)

Dear Dean,

I hope you are doing absolutely fine. I am writing this email to request you to change my working hours rotation to 24 hours per week instead of 40 hours as I am going to pursue part time studies in Personal support worker course. As I am already working as a housekeeper in the healthcare facility, I want to get certification of personal support worker so I can not only be more strong financially but also be able to support our hospital to cover nursing department shifts in the peak holidays time. This course will be 6 months long and going to require me to go to college every Monday and Tuesday starting next week. Apart from that, I will be available to work during rest of the weekdays. I would really appreciate if you can give me my updated schedule as soon as possible so I can plan everything accordingly. if you require anymore documents to support my request kindly drop me a message or email.

Thank you.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

The letter successfully addresses all three bullet points in the prompt. You clearly explain the reason for the request (pursuing a Personal Support Worker course), specify the desired hours (24 hours per week, specifically avoiding Mondays and Tuesdays), and articulate the benefit to the employer (covering nursing shifts during peak holiday periods). The tone is appropriate for a formal request to a supervisor. The purpose of the letter is clear from the beginning, and the ideas are developed sufficiently to meet the requirements of the task.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The letter is logically organized, moving from the purpose of the email to the specific details and finally to the call to action. However, the response is written as a single block of text. To improve, you should use paragraph breaks to separate the introduction, the body (the request and benefits), and the closing. While you use some cohesive devices like 'Apart from that' and 'As I am', the lack of paragraphing makes the text feel slightly dense. Improving the structure would significantly enhance the readability and flow of your writing.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'pursue', 'certification', and 'financially'. There are some minor issues with collocation and word choice, such as 'change my working hours rotation to 24 hours' (which is slightly awkward) and 'more strong financially' (which should be 'financially stronger'). Additionally, 'Personal support worker course' should ideally be capitalized as a formal title. While the vocabulary is sufficient to convey your meaning clearly, it lacks the precision and variety required for a higher band score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, which is good. However, there are several grammatical errors that occur throughout the text. For example, 'I want to get certification of personal support worker' is missing an article ('a' or 'the'). There are also minor punctuation and capitalization issues, such as 'if you require' starting with a lowercase letter. The phrase 'peak holidays time' is slightly unnatural; 'peak holiday periods' would be more accurate. Despite these errors, the meaning remains clear throughout the letter, and the mistakes do not impede communication.

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

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