Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-08-25

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 6.5)

Dear Madam,

I am writing to request a reduction in my working hours.

The reason for reducing work hours is that my intention to study part-time at university, which is located near our industry. I will start this study after 2 weeks, and it would be hectic for me to manage my lecture schedule, job and daily household chores. That is why I want to work for short hours and spend some extra time on my studies.

I would like to work for 7 hours a day instead of the regular 8-hour schedule.

Honestly, this study will be very advantageous for me because it includes a number of subjects such as purchasing, marketing and sales. All of these aforementioned courses are related to my job tasks where I make purchase and sales orders, so those would definitely be useful for me to improve my customer service ability in sales and our sales targets.

I am waiting to hear a positive response from you.

Yours faithfully,

Ravi Prajapati.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

You have successfully addressed all three bullet points in the prompt. You clearly explained your reason for the request, specified the desired working hours, and articulated how your studies would benefit your employer. The tone is appropriate for a formal letter to a supervisor. The ideas are relevant and logically developed, providing sufficient detail to satisfy the requirements of the task. Your position is clear from the beginning, and the letter maintains a consistent professional focus throughout.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The letter is well-organized with a clear structure. Each paragraph addresses a specific part of the prompt, which helps the reader follow your argument easily. You use basic cohesive devices such as 'That is why', 'Honestly', and 'All of these aforementioned courses' to link your ideas. While the flow is logical, the transition between the second and third paragraphs could be smoother. The use of paragraphing is appropriate for a formal letter, and the overall progression of ideas is clear and easy to follow.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task. You use some topic-specific terms like 'purchasing', 'marketing', and 'sales', which are relevant to the context. However, there are some minor inaccuracies in word choice, such as 'industry' (when referring to a university, 'institution' or 'academic environment' would be more precise) and 'hectic' (which is slightly informal). You also use the phrase 'short hours', where 'reduced hours' would be more professional. Overall, the vocabulary is sufficient to convey your meaning clearly without any significant confusion.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are some grammatical errors, such as 'my intention to study' (which is a fragment; it should be 'The reason is that I intend to study') and 'after 2 weeks' (should be 'in two weeks'). Additionally, 'those would definitely be useful' is slightly awkward; 'this knowledge would be beneficial' would be more accurate. Despite these errors, your meaning is always clear, and the mistakes do not impede communication. You have a good grasp of basic sentence construction.

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

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