Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-08-14

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 Adam,

I hope you are doing great. I am writing this letter to express my concern regarding the reduction in my working hours.

To commence with, I am going to the university this summer. So I am unable to work full-time.

Furthermore, I can only work on weekends since I have a class five days a week.

Ultimately, I am taking an AI course at the university. Since AI is taking over all careers, it will be beneficial for me to make a dashboard in an hour rather than taking time for two days. If I learn AI, it will be easy for me in future cause all I have to give is just a prompt.

I hope to hear from you soon.

Best regards,

Shanti Rai

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The letter addresses all three bullet points: the reason for the request, the preferred hours, and the benefits to the employer. However, the response is significantly under the 150-word minimum, which limits the development of your ideas. The explanation regarding how AI skills would benefit your employer is quite brief and lacks professional depth. To improve, you should expand on how your specific studies will translate into increased productivity or efficiency for the company. Because the response is under-length, it fails to fully develop the required points, which impacts the overall score.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The letter follows a logical sequence, moving from the purpose of the letter to the specific request and finally the benefits. You use basic cohesive devices like 'To commence with', 'Furthermore', and 'Ultimately'. However, the paragraphing is insufficient; the entire body of the letter is compressed into a single block, which makes it harder to read. To reach a higher band, ensure you use clear paragraph breaks for each distinct point and vary your linking words to improve the flow between sentences.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is generally adequate for a semi-formal letter, but it lacks the range and precision required for higher bands. Phrases like 'doing great' are a bit too informal for a letter to a boss. Additionally, the explanation of the AI course is somewhat repetitive and uses simplistic phrasing ('taking over all careers', 'easy for me'). To improve, try to incorporate more professional terminology related to your field and workplace communication to demonstrate a wider lexical range.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

You demonstrate a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are several grammatical inaccuracies. For example, 'I am going to the university' is slightly unnatural; 'I am enrolling in a university course' would be better. There are also issues with sentence construction, such as 'it will be easy for me in future cause all I have to give is just a prompt'. The use of 'cause' is too informal for this context. Focus on using more formal conjunctions and ensuring subject-verb agreement throughout your writing.

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

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