Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-09-29

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,

I AM WRITING THIS LETTER ABOUT REDUCE MY WORKING HOURS BECAUSE I HAVE PART TIME STUDY.

SIRST OF ALL, I REDUCE MY WORKING HOURS BECAUSE MY LAST SEMISTER EXAM WILL BE IN NEXT MONTH. HOWEVER, I AM NOT PROPPERLY FOCUS ON MY PREPERATION BECAUSE I AM WORKING IYOUR COMPANY 12 AM TO 7 PM. ANOTHER TIME I MAY FOCUS ON MY PREPERATION BUT I HAVE SO TIRED SO I NOT FOCOS ON MY STUDY.

SECONDLY, I AM GOING TO COLLEGE AT 7 AM TO 11 PM THAN I COMES TO YOUR COMPANY AT 12 PM TO 7 PM. BUT I HAVE NOT PROPPER TIME FOR MY STUDY SO I WILL COME TO AT 12 PM BUT I WILL WORK FINISHD AT 5 PM. IF YOU ARE AGREE FOR THIS SITUATION I AM PROPPERLY CONCENTER ON MY EDUCATION.

MOREOVER, I AM STUDYING IN COMPUTER ENGENEERING AND I WORKING IN YOUR COMPANY AS SOFTWARE ENGENEER SO IT IS VERY BENEFICIEL FOR THE COMPANY.

I HOPE YOU UNDERSTAND MY PROBLEM AND REDUCE MI WORKINK HOURS.

YOURS FAITHFULLY,

SAAD SHAIKH

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response covers all three bullet points required by the task: it explains the reason for reducing working hours due to upcoming exams, specifies the desired hours (working from 12 PM to 5 PM instead of 7 PM), and describes the benefit to the employer by linking the computer engineering studies to your current role as a software engineer. However, the development of these ideas is somewhat limited and repetitive, particularly regarding the struggle with preparation and tiredness. The register is appropriately formal for a workplace letter despite the numerous linguistic errors. The tone is clear and directly addresses the boss. Overall, it satisfies the basic demands of the prompt, aligning best with a Band 5.5 descriptor as the ideas are presented but remain basic and underdeveloped.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The letter is organised into distinct paragraphs with appropriate openings and closings, such as 'DEAR SIR,' and 'YOURS FAITHFULLY,'. The progression of ideas is fairly clear, moving from the problem to the proposed solution and then the company benefit. However, cohesive devices are often basic or misused, such as 'SIRST OF ALL' instead of 'First of all', and 'THAN' instead of 'then'. Referencing and linking between sentences can be repetitive, such as the repeated use of 'so' and 'because' to connect clauses. Paragraphing is attempted, but the overall mechanical control of cohesion places this text securely in the Band 5 category.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is basic and heavily repetitive, with frequent spelling errors that occasionally impede readability, such as 'SEMISTER' for semester, 'PROPPERLY' for properly, 'PREPERATION' for preparation, 'ENGENEERING' for engineering, and 'BENEFICIEL' for beneficial. There is an attempt to use less common vocabulary like 'beneficiel' and 'computer engineering', but the widespread spelling and word-choice inaccuracies demonstrate limitations typical of Band 5. Communication is achieved despite the errors, but the range remains restricted and basic.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The text displays a very limited range of grammatical structures. Simple sentences dominate, and attempts at complex sentences—such as conditional structures like 'IF YOU ARE AGREE FOR THIS SITUATION I AM PROPPERLY CONCENTER ON MY EDUCATION'—are heavily flawed grammatically. There are frequent errors in tense usage ('I WORKING IN YOUR COMPANY'), prepositions ('IN YOUR COMPANY' instead of 'FOR', 'AT 12 PM TO 7 PM'), and verb forms ('ABOUT REDUCE', 'I HAVE SO TIRED'). Punctuation is also weak, with excessive capitalisation throughout the response. These frequent errors cause some difficulty for the reader, fitting the Band 5 descriptor.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.