Band 8.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 8.0 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-09-27

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 8.0)

Dear Manager,

I am writing to request a reduction in my working hours so that I can undertake part-time studies while continuing to contribute to the company.

I have recently decided to enroll in a part-time course in business management, which will help me develop my professional knowledge and skills. However, balancing the course with my current full-time schedule would be difficult. Therefore, I would be grateful if I could reduce my working hours from 40 to 30 hours per week.

Ideally, I would like to work from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., Monday to Friday. This schedule would allow me to attend classes in the evenings and dedicate sufficient time to completing assignments and preparing for examinations. I am, of course, willing to discuss alternative working hours if this arrangement does not suit the company's requirements.

I believe my studies would also benefit the company in the long term. The course will improve my communication, organisational and problem-solving skills, which I could apply directly to my current responsibilities. Furthermore, the knowledge I gain may enable me to take on additional responsibilities and contribute more effectively to the team.

I would appreciate it if you could consider my request. I look forward to discussing this matter with you at your convenience.

Yours sincerely,

Kishan Vaghela

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 8.0

The response fully satisfies all requirements of the task. The writer successfully covers all three bullet points: explaining the reason for reducing hours (undertaking part-time studies in business management), specifying the desired hours (9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., Monday to Friday), and describing the benefits to the employer (improved skills and ability to take on additional responsibilities). The tone is appropriately polite, formal, and consistent with a professional letter to a manager. Ideas are well-developed and presented with a clear purpose throughout, perfectly matching the requirements for a high band score.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 8.0

The letter exhibits clear logical organisation and progression throughout. Each paragraph serves a distinct function: stating the purpose, explaining details, suggesting working hours, outlining benefits, and concluding politely. Cohesive devices such as 'Therefore', 'Ideally', and 'Furthermore' are used naturally and effectively to link ideas. Paragraphing is logical and contributes to the overall smooth flow of the text, ensuring that the reader can easily follow the writer's request.

Lexical Resource: Band 7.0

The student demonstrates a sufficient and appropriate range of vocabulary for a formal workplace request, using items such as 'undertake', 'contribute', 'schedule', and 'responsibilities'. Word choices are precise, and collocation is generally natural (e.g., 'professional knowledge and skills', 'long term', 'alternative working hours'). While there are no highly sophisticated or uncommon idiomatic phrases, the vocabulary used is precise, accurate, and completely adequate for the task, with no spelling or word-choice errors.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 8.0

The response features a good mix of simple and complex sentence structures, showcasing control over grammatical forms. Examples of complex structures include conditional and relative clauses, such as 'I would be grateful if I could reduce my working hours...' and '...skills, which I could apply directly to my current responsibilities.' The majority of sentences are error-free, punctuation is handled correctly, and grammar does not impede communication in any way, showing strong command over sentence mechanics.

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