Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-09-16

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 5.0)

Dear sir,

How is work, hope my letter meet you well? i am writing to request a time reduction in working hours in my department, this is because to enable me attend lectures in a part time programme that i was just admitted into.

because my course of study is part time duration, i would like to solicite that every weekend should be made my off duty days as my classes holds on weekend basis, i plead for this reduction because i need to be claases on these stipulated days.

this programme would be of immerse importance to my advancement in knowledge and to the company atlarge, this is because as a receptionist, my added knowledge would advance the hospitality industry in several dimentions, ranging from attending, scotting for guest.

I anticipate for a switch response.

Yours' faithfully,

mr James.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The response covers all three bullet points required in the task: you explained why you want to reduce hours (to attend a part-time study programme), stated which hours you would like to work (weekends off duty), and described how it would benefit your employer (advancing the hospitality industry and improving your skills as a receptionist). However, the length requirement has not been met, as your response contains only 140 words, falling short of the 150-word minimum. This under-length impacts your Task Achievement score, as the ideas, particularly the benefits to the employer, remain slightly under-developed. To achieve a higher band, ensure you develop each bullet point more fully and carefully check the word count before finishing.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The letter lacks proper paragraphing, as nearly the entire body is condensed into one massive block of text, making the structure difficult to follow. While there are attempts to use cohesive devices such as 'this is because' and 'ranging from', the overall organisation is hindered by run-on sentences and a lack of clear separation between ideas. Referencing is sometimes unclear, particularly with pronoun use like 'my classes holds on weekend basis'. To improve your coherence and cohesion, you should divide your letter into clear paragraphs: an introduction, a paragraph for each bullet point, and a concluding sign-off.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is adequate for basic communication, but it contains several inappropriate word choices and spelling errors. For instance, 'solicite' should be 'solicit', 'claases' is misspelled, 'immerse' should be 'immense', and 'scotting' is unclear and inappropriate in this context. You attempted some less common items such as 'advancement in knowledge' and 'hospitality industry', but inaccuracies in word choice and spelling occasionally impede communication. To improve, you should expand your range of workplace and academic vocabulary, and ensure you carefully proofread your spelling and collocations.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

Your grammar shows a reliance on simple and compound structures linked incorrectly with commas, leading to comma splices, such as in 'How is work, hope my letter meet you well?' and 'i am writing to request...'. There are also subject-verb agreement errors, such as 'my classes holds', and capitalization issues throughout the text, including lowercase 'i' pronouns and improper capitalization of sign-offs like 'Yours' faithfully, mr James'. While some meaning is communicated, frequent errors in punctuation, capitalization, and basic grammar restrict your score to this band. To improve, focus on sentence boundaries, proper punctuation, and accurate subject-verb agreement.

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

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