Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-08-15

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 Mariusz,

I am writing this letter to ask your permission to reduce my current working hours of 37.5 per week to 21 hours per week for 6 months.

Next month onward, I am going to start my French classes with Vancouver College, which required at least 3 days in person lectures. Therefore, in order to maintain my physical and mental health, along with academic expectations constraints my availability for work.

I would request you to make this amendment in schedule in effect from first week of September, 2026 to Mar 2026 and after that I could be available as a regular full-time employee. I would prefer morning hours from 9:30am to 4:30pm in weekends with Monday to work so that I can keep my schedule aligned with my college schedule.

As you know, we are short of bilingual employees in office because of which sometimes we have to ask third- party service provider to provide translators on temporary basis. After this course I could do that. I will really help us.

Regards

Ash

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

You have addressed all three bullet points in the prompt. You clearly explained the reason for the request (French classes), specified the desired hours, and described the benefit to the employer (bilingual support). However, the development of these ideas is somewhat limited. For instance, the explanation of the schedule is slightly confusing, as you mention 'weekends' but also 'Monday'. Additionally, the dates provided (September 2026 to March 2026) are logically inconsistent, as the end date precedes the start date. Despite these minor issues, the purpose of the letter is clear and the tone is appropriate for a formal request to a manager.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The letter follows a logical structure with clear paragraphing. Each paragraph focuses on a specific aspect of the task. You use some cohesive devices such as 'Therefore', 'In order to', and 'As you know' to link ideas. However, the flow is occasionally interrupted by awkward phrasing, such as the sentence 'along with academic expectations constraints my availability for work', which lacks a clear grammatical link to the previous clause. The progression of ideas is generally easy to follow, but the transition between the schedule request and the benefits section could be smoother.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'amendment', 'bilingual', and 'temporary basis'. There are some instances of imprecise word choice, such as 'in effect from' and 'in weekends', which are slightly unnatural. You also have a minor error in 'third- party service provider' where the hyphenation is inconsistent. While the vocabulary is sufficient to convey your meaning clearly, it lacks the flexibility and precision required for a higher band score. Expanding your use of collocations would improve the naturalness of your writing.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are several grammatical errors that occasionally impede the flow, such as 'which required at least 3 days' (should be 'requires') and 'I will really help us' (should be 'It will'). The sentence 'along with academic expectations constraints my availability for work' is grammatically incomplete. While you attempt complex structures, the control over them is inconsistent. Punctuation is generally functional, but the date error and the awkward phrasing in the second paragraph indicate a need for more careful proofreading.

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

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