Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-08-23

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)

Hi,Sir.Hope you are doing great.I just wanted to express about my thought of reducing my work hours and giving those hours to my part time study.I have always dreamt of becoming a doctor.But couldn’t do so.Because at that time i didn’t had sufficient funds to support my study expenses.But at the moment,I am earning enough to take care of my expenses as well as to take admission in my loving field.As you know that my job time for a day is about 8 hours from 11:30 a.m to 7:30 p.m.I want you to reduce it to 6 hours from 1:30 p.m to 7:30 p.m.So i may have enough time to attend my course classes.Morever,after becoming a doctor I will also serve in the office so if i anyone by chance gets sick there will be someone to assist them and provide them free medical help.I will be thankful to you for this kindness and favour.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The letter addresses all three bullet points: the reason for the request, the specific hours desired, and the benefit to the employer. However, the development of these points is somewhat simplistic. The explanation regarding the benefit to the employer—providing free medical help in the office—is a bit unrealistic for a standard workplace, which limits the professional tone of the response. While the task requirements are met, the ideas could be expanded with more professional justification to reach a higher band. The tone is generally appropriate for a letter to a boss, though it leans slightly towards informal.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The letter is organized logically, moving from the request to the details and finally the benefits. However, the paragraphing is non-existent; the entire response is written as a single block of text. This makes the letter feel cluttered and difficult to navigate. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'Morever' and 'So', but they are sometimes used incorrectly or with spelling errors. The flow of ideas is clear, but the lack of paragraph structure significantly impacts the overall coherence and professional presentation of the letter.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is adequate for the task but remains quite basic. There are several instances of awkward phrasing, such as 'express about my thought' and 'take admission in my loving field'. These choices are not natural in a professional context. There are also spelling errors, such as 'Morever'. To improve, the student should focus on using more precise collocations and professional terminology suitable for a formal request letter. The range of vocabulary is sufficient to convey the message, but it lacks the precision required for higher bands.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The response contains a mix of simple and some complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors. Examples include 'I didn’t had' (should be 'didn't have'), 'if i anyone' (a typo), and 'my job time for a day is about 8 hours'. Punctuation is also inconsistent, with several run-on sentences and incorrect spacing after periods. While the meaning is generally clear, the frequency of these errors indicates a lack of control over complex structures and basic grammatical rules, which prevents the writing from reaching a higher band.

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

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