Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-09-22

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 Sir or Madam,

I am writing this letter to request about reducing my working hours because I am enrolling in college for part time studies.

To begin, with the advancement of technology, the use of artificial intelligence has significantly increased. To keep up with the current phase, I wanted to gain knowledge on AI tools. In order to do that, I have joined part time program. I have assignments and practical labs that needs to be submitted on time. Thus, I am kindly requesting to reduce my working hours.

I would request you to allow me work from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Therefore, I can use evening time for my studies.

Additionally, the AI tools which I am learning will be useful for further project work for your organization. I can use this new invention in our work so that it will reduce the manual work, which saves ample amount of time. As a result, it will improve productivity and redcue stress of workload.

I hope to hear a prompt response from you.

Yours faithfully,

Hanah

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

The response covers all three bullet points required by the prompt clearly and effectively. You explain why you want to reduce your working hours due to enrolling in a part-time college program focusing on artificial intelligence. You also specify the exact hours you would like to work, stating, 'I would request you to allow me work from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.' Furthermore, you describe how your studies will benefit your employer by explaining that your new skills will reduce manual work, save time, and improve productivity. Your tone is appropriately formal and polite throughout the letter. All parts are addressed well and supported with relevant ideas, corresponding to a Band 7.0 performance.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

Your letter has a clear logical organization and progression throughout. You make good use of introductory phrases and transitional devices such as 'To begin', 'Thus', and 'Additionally' to connect your ideas. Paragraphing is used appropriately, with distinct paragraphs for each part of the prompt, including an opening statement, reasons for the request, proposed hours, employer benefits, and a closing. While some cohesive devices are used rather formulaically, the overall progression is clear and easy to follow. Referencing is generally precise, ensuring that the reader understands the connections between your studies, your working hours, and the benefits to the company. This meets the criteria for Band 7.0.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate a sufficient range of vocabulary for the task with some attempts at less common lexical items such as 'advancement of technology', 'artificial intelligence', 'practical labs', and 'productivity'. However, there are a few lexical and spelling inaccuracies, such as writing 'request about reducing' instead of 'request a reduction in', 'current phase' instead of 'current pace', and misspelling 'redcue' as 'reduce'. Despite these occasional errors in word choice and spelling, communication is never impeded, and your vocabulary is adequate to convey your message clearly. These features place your lexical resource at Band 6.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, incorporating conditional or relative ideas such as 'the AI tools which I am learning will be useful'. There are some grammatical errors throughout the text, for instance, missing an infinitive marker in 'allow me work' (should be 'allow me to work'), a subject-verb agreement issue in 'labs that needs to be submitted' (should be 'need'), and an article omission in 'for part time studies' (should be 'part-time studies'). However, these errors do not impede communication, and you maintain a reasonable level of control over basic punctuation and sentence boundaries. This performance fits the Band 6.0 descriptors well.

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

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