Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · 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 5.5)

Dear Manager,

I hope you are doing well. I would like to inform you that i started my part time time in learning French for my career. I am interested to learn a new language as a second language to build me career bright. As my study begins from next week, I want to reduce the working hours. I want to work in the evenings, as my college in the mornings, and on the weekends I want day off because I want to get extra classes to learn as soon as possible. French language will help me to communicate with old people who are facing difficulty to speak English. My new language learning journey will help me to build my career and be a bilingual, it also helps me to communicate with customers at the workplace to get orders and make customers comfortable. I hope you understand my concern and motivate me to learn new skill.

Regards

Prabhjot Kaur

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The letter covers all three bullet points: the reason for the request (learning French), the preferred hours (evenings), and the benefits to the employer (customer service). However, the development of these points is somewhat limited. The explanation of how the study benefits the employer is a bit repetitive, focusing primarily on communication. To reach a higher band, you should provide more specific details about how your new skills will directly improve workplace efficiency or customer satisfaction. The tone is generally appropriate for a formal letter to a manager, although the structure could be more professional with clearer paragraph breaks.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The letter is coherent, and the message is easy to follow. However, the use of cohesive devices is quite basic. You rely heavily on simple conjunctions like 'and' or 'as'. There is a lack of sophisticated linking words or phrases that would help the flow between sentences and ideas. Furthermore, the letter is presented as a single block of text rather than being divided into logical paragraphs (e.g., introduction, body, and conclusion). Using clear paragraphing is essential for a formal letter to ensure the reader can easily distinguish between your request, your proposed schedule, and your justification.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is adequate for the task but lacks variety and precision. You use repetitive phrasing, such as 'learn a new language' and 'new language learning journey'. There are also some awkward collocations, such as 'build me career bright' instead of 'advance my career' or 'make my career prospects brighter'. While your meaning is clear, the range of vocabulary is limited to common, everyday words. To improve, try to incorporate more professional terminology related to workplace requests and professional development, and pay closer attention to word forms and collocations.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

There are several grammatical errors throughout the text that occasionally distract the reader. For example, 'i started my part time time' contains a repetition error and a missing article. 'As my college in the mornings' is missing a verb, and 'be a bilingual' is grammatically incorrect (it should be 'become bilingual'). You rely mostly on simple sentence structures. While you attempt some complex sentences, they often contain errors in tense or word order. To improve, focus on subject-verb agreement, correct article usage, and ensuring that every sentence has a clear main verb.

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

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