Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-09-19

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 6.0)

Dear manager,

I am officially writing this letter to inform you about my masters study which i started few month ago, and i want to appeal for reduce work schedule in other to have time for my study while working.

I will be glad if my working hour can be reduced to 72hours per week. This will really help me to focus on my study while carrying out my duty at work effectively. I went to study my masters in computr science because i belief their are more things i need to know for my work to be effective and excellently done. My study in computer science will really help me to develop positive changes in my position at work.

In addition, i assure you this will not stop me from coming to work or affect my work.

Thank you so much for your time and consideration, i hope to hear a positive feedback. Thank you.

yours sincerely,

Sofiat.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response covers all three bullet points required in the prompt. The writer explains why they want to reduce hours to pursue a master's degree, specifies the hours (though with an unrealistic figure of 72 hours per week, which likely meant 72 hours per fortnight or part-time hours, but is accepted for task completion), and describes how the studies will benefit the employer by bringing positive changes and better effectiveness to the role. The tone is appropriate for a letter to a manager. However, the ideas are somewhat limited and lack full development, placing this response at Band 6.0 according to the descriptors where all parts are addressed, but some areas feel under-developed.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The letter maintains a coherent overall arrangement with a clear purpose stated at the beginning and a polite sign-off at the end. Paragraphing is used, separating the introduction, the main body points, a brief concluding reassurance, and the sign-off. However, paragraph two is overly dense and contains multiple distinct ideas that should have been broken down further. Cohesive devices are basic and occasionally repetitive (e.g., 'This will really help me...', 'My study... will really help me...'). Referencing is generally clear, but the lack of sophisticated linking devices keeps the response firmly in the Band 6 range.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting some less common topic-related words such as 'appeal', 'effectively', and 'consideration'. However, there are notable spelling errors ('few month ago' instead of 'few months ago', 'computr' instead of 'computer', 'belief' instead of 'believe') and awkward word choices ('officially writing this letter', 'positive feedback'). While communication is not impeded and the reader easily understands the message, these inaccuracies prevent the response from achieving a higher band, making Band 5.5 an accurate reflection of the lexical control.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as 'I will be glad if my working hour can be reduced to 72hours per week' and 'I went to study my masters in computr science because i belief their are more things i need to know...' There are several grammatical errors and punctuation/capitalization lapses, such as missing capitalization ('i', 'masters'), subject-verb agreement issues ('their are' instead of 'there are'), and preposition/article slips ('for reduce work schedule' instead of 'to reduce my work schedule'). These errors occur frequently enough to impact the overall accuracy, aligning with the Band 5.5 descriptor.

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

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