Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-09-01

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)

Respected boss

i am writing to inform you that i need some more days to concentrate on my studies so i have to reduce my working hours.

As you know am studies in childcare department as something usual to our work. i have already done my three months courses but i want to continue second three months courses too because their is a lot of information given on how to take care of babies and their healthy food lifestyle.

as now i am working five days in a week but i requesting you that i can work for just 3 days in a week just monday to wednesday because i have classes from thrusday to saturday.

however, it proves very benificial for our work as we can extend our business by opening some more childcare schools and i can help you to train some of them and we can also give online classes to new enrolled students.

thank you

your faithfully

Navjot kaur

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

You have addressed all three bullet points required by the task: explaining the reason for the request, specifying the desired hours, and describing the benefits to the employer. The tone is generally appropriate for a formal letter, although the opening 'Respected boss' is slightly unusual in a professional English context. The ideas are relevant, but the development is somewhat limited. For example, while you mention the benefits of your studies, expanding slightly more on how your specific childcare training would translate into immediate value for the business would strengthen the response. Overall, the task requirements are met clearly.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The letter follows a logical progression, moving from the request to the schedule and then to the benefits. However, the use of cohesive devices is quite limited and sometimes mechanical. For instance, the transition 'however, it proves very benificial' is used to introduce a benefit, but 'however' is typically used to signal a contrast, making the connection between sentences feel slightly disjointed. Paragraphing is also absent, which makes the text appear as a single block. Using clear paragraph breaks for the introduction, body, and conclusion would significantly improve the readability and structure of your writing.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

Your vocabulary is adequate for the task, allowing you to communicate your needs effectively. You use some topic-specific terms like 'childcare department' and 'online classes'. However, there are several spelling errors, such as 'benificial' (beneficial), 'thrusday' (Thursday), and 'faithfully' (faithfully). Additionally, some word choices are slightly unnatural, such as 'something usual to our work' or 'done my three months courses'. To reach a higher band, focus on improving spelling accuracy and using more precise collocations to express your ideas with greater sophistication.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

You rely primarily on simple sentence structures, and there are frequent grammatical errors throughout the text. Common issues include subject-verb agreement and article usage, such as 'am studies' instead of 'I am studying' and 'their is a lot of information' instead of 'there is'. Punctuation is also inconsistent, with a lack of capital letters for 'i' and proper nouns like 'monday' and 'wednesday'. While the meaning remains clear, the high frequency of these errors limits the score. Incorporating a wider variety of complex sentence structures and proofreading for basic grammatical accuracy would be highly beneficial.

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

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