Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-08-26

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 5.0)

Dear Sir,

I am writing to inform you that regarding to decrease my working hours. I am student and also 2 months study remaining to complete my education. I want to reduce my work hours because government allow to 24 hours for students to maintain legal status in Canada. I do work in your company but your supervisor give me more hours for doing work which is not match for my hours that I do it during my study as it against government rules and I can out of status in Canada.

I would prefer to do 24 hours in week during my study to maintain my study status in this country. Therefore, I would like 6 hours in four days like Monday to Thursday because my classes are on Friday and Sunday. Hence, these four days will be suitable for me doing work.

I ma student of MBA and have good skills in account So, I think my study would be beneficial in my work because I mostly do work related to account in your company. As a result, it would be helpful to gain more experience in account and do work without any difficulty. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Yours faithfully,

Gurpreet

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The letter addresses all three bullet points of the prompt: the reason for the request, the preferred hours, and the benefits to the employer. The tone is generally appropriate for a formal request to a boss. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited. For instance, the explanation of how the MBA studies would benefit the employer is quite brief and could be more explicitly linked to specific tasks or projects within the company. While the purpose is clear, the overall development of the arguments is basic, placing this in the Band 5 range.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The letter is organized into clear paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the structure. However, the use of cohesive devices is often mechanical or inaccurate. For example, the transition 'Hence, these four days will be suitable' is used, but the logical flow between sentences is sometimes disjointed due to grammatical errors. Referencing is occasionally unclear, such as in the phrase 'which is not match for my hours that I do it'. While there is an overall progression, the lack of sophisticated linking words and the repetitive sentence structure limit the coherence.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary is sufficient to convey the message but is quite limited and repetitive. There are several instances of awkward word choice and collocation errors, such as 'regarding to decrease my working hours' instead of 'regarding a reduction in my working hours' and 'do work related to account' instead of 'work related to accounting'. The student relies on basic vocabulary and struggles to use more precise or professional terminology suitable for a business letter. Spelling is generally accurate, but the range is narrow.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The response contains frequent grammatical errors that occasionally impede communication. There are issues with verb forms ('government allow to 24 hours'), sentence structure ('I am student and also 2 months study remaining'), and preposition usage. The student relies heavily on simple sentence structures, and attempts at more complex sentences often result in errors, such as 'which is not match for my hours that I do it during my study as it against government rules'. These errors are frequent and noticeable throughout the text.

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

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