Band 7.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 7.0 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-09-09

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 7.0)

Dear Stacey,

I hope you are doing well.

I am writing to request, to reduce my working hours because I got admission in a short-term accounting course at Dalhousie University. I have been waiting for this opportunity since last year, and this year finally, I got selected to pursue an advance certification course in Financial Accounting.

It would be great if you could allow me to work from 12:00 pm to 5:00 pm instead of 8:30 am to 4:00 pm. This is an in-person course starting on October 1, 2026, for 4 months, from 8:00 am to 11:00 am every weekday. I promised that my reduced working hours would not cause any kind of loss to the firm.

My decision to continue my studies will not only help me but also help your organization to take quick decisions in various financial aspects, like whether to outsource or manufacture on our own. You know, hiring the services of a financial analyst is expensive, if I complete this course, you do not need to pay extra to an outsider.

Thank you for your time and efforts. I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely,

Anamika

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.5

You have successfully addressed all three bullet points in the prompt. You clearly explained the reason for your request (the accounting course), specified the desired working hours, and provided a persuasive argument regarding how your employer would benefit from your new skills. The tone is appropriate for a formal letter to a manager. The ideas are relevant and well-developed, ensuring the reader understands both your personal goals and the professional value you bring to the company. The letter is well-structured and fulfills all requirements of the task.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The letter is logically organized with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a formal closing. Each paragraph focuses on a specific aspect of the request, which helps the reader follow your argument easily. You use some cohesive devices, such as 'not only... but also' and 'instead of', to link ideas. However, the flow could be improved by using a wider variety of transition words to connect sentences more fluidly. Overall, the progression of ideas is clear and the paragraphing is appropriate for a formal letter.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.5

You demonstrate a sufficient range of vocabulary to convey your message clearly. You use some topic-specific terms like 'financial analyst', 'outsource', and 'advance certification'. There are a few minor issues with word choice, such as 'I promised that' (which should be 'I promise') and 'got admission' (which is slightly informal; 'was accepted into' is better). While the vocabulary is adequate for the task, incorporating more sophisticated collocations would help elevate the response to a higher band.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.5

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is always clear, there are some grammatical errors, such as the unnecessary comma in 'this year finally, I got selected' and the tense inconsistency in 'I promised that my reduced working hours would not cause'. Additionally, 'I am writing to request, to reduce' contains an unnecessary comma. Despite these errors, your control of grammar is generally good, and the mistakes do not impede communication. Increasing the variety of complex structures and proofreading for punctuation would improve your score.

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

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