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 manager,

I am writing to express my concern about the working time. Nowadays , I am trying learn more englinh for my Ielts test as this is vital for me to apply a permanent resident of Canada. As a memeber of the team working in your company, I work 9a.m. to 6p.m. after work I do not get enough time for study because meantime in evening i need preapre my food for night.

Furthermore, I able work with you from 8a.m. to 2p.m. as this schedule will allow me to spend evening time on my study and after dark i can prepare food for myself.

Inaddition, this quality time could be considered as beneficial for me as i can apply my permanent resident of Canada as soon as possible. Also, after getting this success I can work unlimted hours with you which will us to develop our comapany.

Yours faithfully,

Vishal bajaj

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

You have addressed all three bullet points required by the task: explaining your reason for the request, specifying the desired hours, and describing the benefits to your employer. However, the development of these ideas is quite limited. For instance, the explanation of how your studies benefit the employer is vague and slightly illogical, as you suggest that working fewer hours now will lead to unlimited hours later. To improve, you should provide more professional and realistic justifications for how your new skills might add value to your current role, rather than focusing solely on your personal immigration goals.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The letter is organised into paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the structure. You use some basic cohesive devices such as 'Furthermore' and 'In addition' to link your ideas. However, the flow between sentences is sometimes disjointed due to grammatical errors and awkward phrasing. The progression of ideas is clear, but the logical connection between your personal study goals and the company's benefit is not fully developed, which affects the overall coherence of your argument. Using a wider variety of linking words and ensuring that each paragraph focuses on a single, well-developed point would improve your score.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

Your vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, but it is quite basic and contains several spelling errors (e.g., 'englinh', 'memeber', 'preapre', 'unlimted', 'comapany'). These errors are frequent enough to be noticeable. You rely on simple phrasing, such as 'quality time' and 'get this success', which lacks the professional tone required for a formal letter to a manager. To reach a higher band, you should focus on using more precise, business-appropriate vocabulary and ensure your spelling is accurate, as these errors detract from the professional nature of your request.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

There is a mix of simple and some attempted complex sentence structures, but the accuracy is inconsistent. You have frequent errors in basic grammar, such as missing articles ('apply a permanent resident'), incorrect verb forms ('I able work'), and punctuation issues (e.g., the space before the comma in 'Nowadays ,'). These errors occur throughout the text and occasionally make it difficult for the reader to grasp your meaning immediately. To improve, focus on mastering basic sentence construction, subject-verb agreement, and correct article usage before attempting more complex structures.

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

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