Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-09-24

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 Terry,

I hope you are having a good time.

The reason for me to write you a letter is to inform you regarding my part time study starting in November and it will be challenging for me to continue working 40 hours a week during my college study. However, my intent is to continue working for you but only 25 hours a week.

My schedule during my classes is like this, Monday to Wednesday from 10:00am to 4:00pm, and on Saturday it will be 9:00am to 3:00 pm. Thursday and Friday are the days which I am willing to work 8 hours a day and rest of 9 hours I will do on Sundays regular shift.

Since I am joining a trade school which not only upgrade my millwright skills but also significantly improving my work performance, resulting in better customer satisfaction of your clients.

I certainly feel you will approve my request

Yours Faithfully,

John Leister

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The response covers all bullet points required by the prompt. You successfully explain why you want to reduce your working hours (starting a part-time trade school study in November). You specify the hours you would like to work (Monday to Wednesday, Saturday, and specific hours on Thursday, Friday, and Sunday). Furthermore, you describe how the studies would benefit your employer by upgrading your millwright skills, improving work performance, and resulting in better customer satisfaction. All parts of the task are addressed appropriately with relevant ideas, though the conclusion is a bit abrupt. Overall, this meets the requirements for Band 6.5, rounded to 6.0 based on the depth of idea development.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The letter has a coherent overall arrangement and follows a logical structure typical of semi-formal correspondence. However, paragraphing is somewhat problematic; the body paragraphs are dense and could be better divided to separate the explanation of hours from the benefits to the employer. Cohesive devices are used, but phrasing such as 'The reason for me to write you a letter is to inform you regarding' feels a bit mechanical and wordy. Referencing and progression are generally clear, but smoother transitional phrases would enhance readability. Therefore, this performance fits the Band 6 descriptor well.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully using terms like 'challenge', 'intent', 'trade school', and 'customer satisfaction'. However, there are some word choice and collocation inaccuracies, such as 'inform you regarding' instead of 'inform you about' or 'write to inform you that', and 'rest of 9 hours I will do on Sundays regular shift', which sounds unnatural. While you attempt some less common vocabulary ('significantly improving', 'millwright skills'), inaccuracies persist. This places your lexical control squarely at Band 6.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

The response contains a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as the conditional-like structure in 'Since I am joining a trade school which not only upgrade...'. There are several grammatical errors, including subject-verb agreement issues ('which not only upgrade' instead of 'upgrades', 'is like this' preceding a list of multiple clauses), and missing prepositions or articles. Punctuation is generally acceptable, but some sentences run on awkwardly. These errors do not impede overall communication, reflecting the characteristics of Band 6 grammar.

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

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