Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-08-27

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 6.0)

Dear Seth,

I am writing to request you to reduce my working hours due to my study.

I would like to decline my working hours upto the 24 hours because I enrolled in the school for my further education and I took Project Leadership and Management program. It will help me to acquire a deeper knowledge in project management and will be beneficial for my future.

If I talk about the hours that i would like to work, that will be tuesday, thursady, and friday from morning to evening till 4:00pm because after 4:00pm, I have my classes and i need to attend the class by visiting the college.

My part-time study would also benefit my employer as I will be more able to handle the tasks and the responsibilities by acquiring a more knowledge and my leadership as well as communication skills also be improved.

I am looking forward to hearing from you soon.

Your Sincerely,

Beant Kaur

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The letter addresses all three bullet points of the prompt. You clearly explain the reason for the request (further education), specify the desired working hours (Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday until 4:00 pm), and describe the benefits to the employer (improved leadership and communication skills). The tone is appropriate for a formal request to a manager. However, the development of ideas is somewhat basic. To reach a higher band, you could expand on how the specific skills gained in the 'Project Leadership and Management' program would be applied to your current daily tasks to provide more concrete value to your employer.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The letter follows a logical structure, with each paragraph addressing a specific requirement of the task. You use basic cohesive devices such as 'If I talk about' and 'as I will be'. However, the flow between sentences is occasionally mechanical, and some transitions could be smoother. For example, the opening sentence is a bit abrupt. Using a wider range of linking words or phrases (e.g., 'Furthermore', 'Consequently', 'In addition to this') would improve the overall cohesion and help the reader follow your argument more naturally.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully conveying your meaning. Phrases like 'further education' and 'acquire a deeper knowledge' are appropriate. However, there are some inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'decline my working hours' (should be 'reduce') and 'upto the 24 hours' (should be 'to 24 hours'). Additionally, the phrase 'I took Project Leadership' is slightly informal; 'I have enrolled in' or 'I am pursuing' would be more precise. Improving your control over collocations will help you achieve a higher score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors that occasionally distract the reader. For instance, 'I am writing to request you to reduce' is slightly awkward; 'I am writing to request a reduction in my working hours' is more natural. There are also issues with articles ('the school', 'the college') and subject-verb agreement ('my leadership... also be improved' should be 'will also be improved'). While these errors do not prevent communication, they indicate a need for more careful proofreading and a better grasp of sentence construction.

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

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