Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-09-12

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)

Dear Manger,

I am writing this letter to inform you that college is around the corner anf my college is going to start soon and i have to reduced my hours to part time. As per my college requirements i cannot work full time and need your support in this. If possible could you please schedule me for monday to friday from 8am to 12pm in this way i can contribute to the peak hours and later i can attend my higher school.

After my education I'm would be available for full time and it would be the black friday so can i contribute long hours without any restrictions. Moreover this would help the business to work more efficiently and effectively. I hope you could understand my situation and allow to me work flexibility until my college is done.

Thank you for your incredible support during the toughest time.

Yours sincerely

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response covers all three bullet points required in the prompt. The writer successfully explains the reason for reducing hours by mentioning upcoming college studies ('college is around the corner'), specifies the desired working hours ('monday to friday from 8am to 12pm'), and describes how this arrangement benefits the employer by contributing to peak hours and allowing full-time availability later ('after my education I'm would be available for full time'). The tone is generally appropriate for a formal letter to a boss, although the opening salutation contains a typo ('Dear Manger'). All parts of the task are addressed, and the ideas are relevant, though some sections lack full development. This places the response comfortably at Band 6.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The letter maintains a coherent overall arrangement, allowing the reader to easily follow the writer's request. Sentences are linked using basic cohesive devices such as 'In this way', 'Moreover', and 'After my education'. However, paragraphing is poorly managed, as the entire body of the letter is compressed into a single dense block of text, which detracts from the visual structure of a standard letter. Additionally, referencing and transitions are sometimes mechanical, such as the repetitive use of 'college' in the opening sentences. While the progression of ideas is logical, the lack of appropriate paragraph breaks limits the score to a Band 5.5.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully communicating everyday workplace and academic concepts like 'reduce your working hours', 'part time', and 'peak hours'. However, there are noticeable lexical and spelling inaccuracies throughout the text, such as 'Manger' instead of 'Manager', 'anf' instead of 'and', and 'reduced' instead of 'reduce'. Attempts to use less common vocabulary yield awkward phrases like 'higher school' (likely meaning high school or higher education) and 'the black friday'. These errors do not completely impede communication, but they restrict the lexical score to a Band 5.5.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as conditional and prepositional clauses ('If possible could you please schedule me...'). However, grammatical control is inconsistent, with frequent errors including run-on sentences, missing punctuation, and awkward verb forms like 'I'm would be available' and 'allow to me work flexibility'. Articles and capitalization are also mishandled in places (e.g., 'monday'). Although the meaning remains mostly clear despite these frequent errors, the lack of error-free sentences prevents the writing from achieving a Band 6, placing it firmly at a Band 5.0.

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

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