Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-09-30

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 5.5)

Dear Mr. Hasnain,

I hope you are doing well.

I am writing to request for reduction of my working hours because I enrolled part time study and it will commence this coming October.

I recently enrolled a part time study, which is the culinary arts course. It will start on 17th of October. Therefore I am asking for your support to reduce 2 hours from my working time, instead of coming from 6 in the evening, I will come at 8:30 since my study time is six to eight in the evening.Enrolling on this particular

Course will enhance and develop my skills in the kitchen, for instance, it will broaden my knowledge for the different varieties of recipes and spices. Moreover it’s an advantage from the company because I will surely share and use the skills that I will learn from the institution. This course will only take two months, once I graduated, I am willing to return on my regular working time.

I hope for your kind consideration on this matter and hopefully receive a positive response on your side.

Yours faithfully,

Jessica

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

The letter successfully addresses all three bullet points required by the task prompt. You clearly explained why you want to reduce your working hours due to enrolling in a culinary arts course starting on October 17th. You also specified the exact hours you would like to work, proposing to shift your start time from 6:00 PM to 8:30 PM to accommodate your classes. Furthermore, you described how your studies would benefit your employer by stating that you will share and use the new skills and recipes learned from the institution in the kitchen. The tone is appropriate for a workplace communication to a boss. Although there is a minor repetition regarding the course enrollment ('I enrolled part time study' and 'I recently enrolled a part time study'), all requirements of the task have been fully and clearly covered.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The letter has a clear overall progression and logical organization. You open with a standard salutation and a brief introductory pleasantry ('I hope you are doing well.'), followed by the core request and justifications. Cohesive devices such as 'Therefore', 'Moreover', and 'once I graduated' are used to connect ideas, though the paragraphing is somewhat compressed. The entire body of the letter is contained within a single large paragraph after the introduction. Breaking this into distinct paragraphs—such as separating the working hours request from the benefits to the employer—would improve the structural flow and make the letter easier to read.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

Your vocabulary is generally adequate for this task, allowing you to clearly convey your message. You attempt some less common lexical items related to your field, such as 'culinary arts', 'varieties of recipes', and 'spices'. However, there are some noticeable word choice and collocation errors, such as writing 'request for reduction' (rather than 'a request to reduce') and 'enrolled a part time study' (rather than 'enrolled in a part-time course'). Repetition of phrases like 'part time study' also limits your score. Despite these occasional inaccuracies, your vocabulary choice does not impede communication.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You demonstrate a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as conditional and transitional structures ('Moreover it’s an advantage from the company because I will surely share...'). However, grammatical accuracy is inconsistent. There are several structural errors, including missing prepositions ('request for reduction of', 'return on my regular working time'), tense inconsistencies, and run-on sentences, particularly in the long middle section where multiple clauses are joined loosely with commas rather than proper punctuation. While these errors do not completely obscure your meaning, they occur frequently enough to prevent you from reaching a higher band score.

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

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