Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · 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 6.0)

Dear Manager,

I hope you are doing well. I am writing this email to seek your permission to cut down my working hour to utilize more time in study.

Recently, I realized that, being full time nurse can be great career option to pursue due to onging high demand and above average pay scale. As I have completed pre health diploma and currently working as a PSW, both are making strong opporchunity to give eligible NCLEX exam and get Registered Nurse licence.

It's my humble request to reduce my working hours from 40 hours to 20 hours and allocate 10 hours each day of work. That way, I can allocate five days to study as this exam requires hours of study and discipline to get the good score. I understand reducing work hours into half could be very tough for you to manage but only weedend preparation for the exam is not enough to clear the test.

Regards,

Apoorv

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The response covers all three bullet points required in the task instructions. The student successfully explains why they want to reduce their working hours to study for the NCLEX exam, specifies the desired working hours (from 40 to 20 hours), and attempts to describe how this benefits the employer, although this final point is underdeveloped. For instance, mentioning that a nurse in training can offer updated medical knowledge or fill specific shift gaps could have strengthened this aspect. The tone is appropriate for a formal letter to a manager. Overall, the requirements of the task are addressed adequately, placing this response at Band 6.0.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The letter maintains a coherent overall arrangement and follows a logical progression from the greeting to the purpose of the email, explanation, request, and conclusion. Paragraphing is used to separate main ideas, although the indentation is somewhat irregular. Cohesive devices are present, such as 'That way' and 'As I have completed', but referencing and linking are occasionally mechanical or slightly awkward, as seen in the transition 'both are making strong opporchunity'. Despite these minor faults, the letter is easy to follow and the overall structure is clear, fitting the descriptors for Band 6.0 well.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate vocabulary range to communicate the main message, attempting some less common lexical items such as 'ongoing high demand' and 'above average pay scale'. However, there are notable spelling and word choice errors that detract from the writing, including 'working hour' instead of 'hours', 'onging' instead of 'ongoing', 'opporchunity' instead of 'opportunity', 'eligible NCLEX exam' instead of 'eligible to take the NCLEX exam', and 'weedend' instead of 'weekend'. These errors do not completely impede communication, but they restrict the lexical score to a 5.5.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The writer uses a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as 'I am writing this email to seek your permission to cut down my working hour to utilize more time in study.' There are several grammatical errors and awkward phrasings throughout the text, including 'being full time nurse' (missing article), 'both are making strong opporchunity' (incorrect verb form and collocation), 'allocate 10 hours each day of work' (which contradicts reducing to 20 hours total per week), and 'reducing work hours into half'. While these errors occasionally cause the reader some difficulty, they do not obscure the overall meaning, resulting in a band score of 5.5.

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

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