Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-08-12

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 boss,

I hope you are doing well. I have taken one favour for your side so writing a letter about reducing my working hours in my daily schedule .

you know personally I am passionate about my job but due to some reasons my study starts this month. my college started earlier and i have no time to explain my work schedule change. i kindly request you change my Monday and Friday job schedule and take some reduce hours for working.

you know I am a master of arts After studying I am so beneficial for company new project and management.company so proud for me .when i did my full efforts done in company work after my study.

I am a humble request to you sir please reduce my working hours for my better future and progress of company new policies .

I hope you understand my problem get reduce my working hours in next schedule.

sincerely,

ketan jain

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The letter addresses all three bullet points: the reason for the request, the specific hours desired, and the benefits to the employer. However, the development of these ideas is quite limited. For instance, the explanation of how the studies would benefit the company is vague, stating only that you would be 'beneficial for company new project'. To improve, you should provide more concrete examples of how your new skills would specifically help your employer. The tone is also somewhat inconsistent for a formal business letter, appearing a bit informal and disjointed in places.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The letter is organised into paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the structure. However, the flow between sentences is often mechanical or abrupt. For example, the transition between 'I am a master of arts' and the following sentence is disjointed. There is a lack of cohesive devices (such as 'furthermore', 'consequently', or 'in addition') to link ideas smoothly. The referencing is sometimes unclear, and the overall progression of the argument feels repetitive, particularly in the final two paragraphs where the request for reduced hours is restated without adding new information.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary is basic and often repetitive. Phrases like 'I have taken one favour' and 'company so proud for me' are unnatural and indicate a limited control over collocations and idiomatic expression. There are also errors in word choice, such as using 'reduce' as a verb where a noun or adjective might be more appropriate in context. While the meaning is generally clear, the range of vocabulary is insufficient to express complex ideas with precision or professional tone, which is expected for this type of task.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The response relies heavily on simple sentence structures. There are frequent grammatical errors, including missing articles ('for company new project'), incorrect verb tenses ('my college started earlier'), and issues with sentence boundaries. Punctuation is also inconsistent, with irregular spacing and capitalization errors throughout. While the errors do not completely prevent the reader from understanding the message, they are frequent enough to cause difficulty and indicate a lack of control over complex grammatical structures.

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

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