Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-09-14

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 6.5)

Dear manager,

My name is Sukhpreet, a regular full-time employee in your daycare. I am writing this letter to give you heads up regarding my availability starting next month.

It's been more than one year, I am working with your company as an Early Childhood educator assistant. However, recently I planned to be an educator and for that I have to get enrolled for one year course. Moreover, there would be all of assignments and classes that I have to be responsible for during the duration of academic studies.

Additionally, I already received the schedule from my college. According to my routine, I can work Tuesday and Friday at any time, as those are my dayoffs. Nevertheless, I am confident that this course will help me to improve my knowledge regarding children behaviour, precautions and special needs that will ultimately let me contribute more towards children's growth.

Yours sincerely,

Sukhpreet

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

The student successfully covers all bullet points required in the task instructions. The letter clearly explains why Sukhpreet wants to reduce working hours, stating an intention to study part-time ('plan to be an educator and for that I have to get enrolled for one year course'). The specific hours available for work are explicitly stated ('I can work Tuesday and Friday at any time, as those are my dayoffs'). Finally, the benefits to the employer are well described, linking the course content to children's growth and behavior ('help me to improve my knowledge regarding children behaviour... that will ultimately let me contribute more towards children's growth'). The tone is appropriately formal and polite for a workplace communication. Therefore, the task is fully addressed, earning a solid Band 7.0 for Task Achievement.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The letter exhibits clear logical organisation and progression throughout. It opens with an appropriate greeting and self-introduction, transitions into the core request in the body paragraphs, and concludes professionally. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'However', 'Moreover', and 'Additionally', although some transitions are slightly mechanical in style. Paragraphing is adequately managed, separating the introduction, the reasons and hours, and the closing thoughts. While the referencing is generally clear, paragraph two is slightly dense with multiple ideas lumped together. Overall, the structural flow meets the criteria for Band 6.5.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully incorporating workplace and academic terminology such as 'full-time employee', 'Early Childhood educator assistant', and 'academic studies'. However, there are some noticeable word-choice and collocation errors, such as 'give you heads up' (missing an article), 'dayoffs' (spelled as one word or unspaced compound, should be days off), and 'all of assignments' (should be 'all the assignments'). Less common vocabulary is attempted with mixed accuracy. Because the vocabulary is sufficient to communicate the message clearly despite these occasional slips, a band score of 6.0 is appropriate.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The response features a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating attempts at subordinate clauses ('as those are my dayoffs', 'that will ultimately let me'). However, there are several grammatical errors and awkward phrasings throughout the text. Examples include 'It's been more than one year, I am working' (tense and punctuation issues, should be present perfect continuous), 'all of assignments and classes that I have to be responsible for', and 'help me to improve' (help usually takes a bare infinitive or 'to-infinitive', but the sentence structure is clumsy). These errors occasionally distract the reader, though they do not impede overall communication, placing this response securely at Band 6.0.

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

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