Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-08-21

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 would like to request a reduction in my hours because i need some time to focus on my studies and complete my academic requirements.

I really appreciate the opportunity to work here and I would like to continue while focusing on my studies . With this way , i can continue working and studying same time , with few hours of work . So here i would like to work 24 hours a week at friday,saturday and sunday . These days could be best fit for me . Because my all study plans are in first four days of week .

Part time studying will be helpful for you as well , because i am going to study some computer skills . That technical computer skills could make our work easy , even saves our lots of time .

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

You have addressed all three bullet points in the prompt: explaining the reason for the request, specifying the desired hours, and describing the benefits to the employer. However, the response is slightly under the 150-word minimum requirement, which negatively impacts the overall task achievement score. While the ideas are relevant, they are somewhat underdeveloped; for instance, the explanation of how your computer skills would benefit the company is quite brief. To improve, you should expand on your points with more detail and ensure you meet the minimum word count to fully develop your response.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The letter follows a logical progression, moving from the request to the specific details and finally the benefits. However, the paragraphing is insufficient, as the entire body of the letter is essentially one block of text. The use of cohesive devices is somewhat mechanical and repetitive (e.g., 'With this way', 'So here'). To achieve a higher band, you should use more varied linking words and phrases to connect your ideas more fluidly and ensure clear paragraph breaks between the different sections of your letter.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task but remains quite basic. You rely on simple phrasing such as 'make our work easy' and 'saves our lots of time'. There is little evidence of less common or more precise vocabulary. To improve, try to incorporate more professional and specific terminology related to workplace requests and skill development. Additionally, ensure you pay attention to punctuation and capitalization, as there are several errors with spacing and lowercase 'i' throughout the text.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The response contains a mix of simple and some complex sentence structures, but there are frequent errors in grammar and punctuation. Common issues include the failure to capitalize the pronoun 'I', incorrect comma usage (e.g., 'friday,saturday and sunday'), and awkward phrasing like 'With this way'. These errors are noticeable and occasionally distract the reader. To improve, focus on basic sentence construction, correct capitalization, and ensuring subject-verb agreement. Proofreading your work for these small but frequent errors will significantly improve your score.

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

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