Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-10-07

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 Boss,

I'm writing to request for reduction in working hours because recently i have joined a part time course in business management

i really enjoyed working in the company but now a days my routine is very hectic. if you could reduce my working hours from 35 to 25 hours so i will come from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm from Monday to Friday

This course will be beneficial for me as well as for the company becausse it will improve my communication and management skills. i will gain new knowledge that could help me to make company better

Yours truly,

laraib yaseen

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You address the main purpose by requesting shorter hours, giving a reason, proposing a schedule, and mentioning benefits to the company. The specific request to reduce your week from 35 to 25 hours and work from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on weekdays is useful. However, the explanation of why you need the change is brief, and the employer benefits are only generally stated: “improve my communication and management skills” and “help me to make company better” need clearer links to your duties or the company’s needs. The response is also 46 words below the required minimum, so the ideas are not developed enough to fully address the task. Add detail about your study commitments, how the schedule would work, and practical benefits for your employer.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The letter follows a recognisable order: it makes the request, gives a proposed schedule, and then explains the possible benefits. This helps the reader understand the basic message. However, most information is compressed into one paragraph, and the ideas run together without clear sentence boundaries, particularly between “business management” and “i really enjoyed working”. The link “so” does not clearly express the relationship between the requested reduction and the proposed hours. Use separate paragraphs for your reason, schedule, and benefits, and connect them with clear transitions such as “I would therefore like to propose…” The opening and closing provide a basic letter format, but a more appropriate greeting would also improve the overall presentation.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use enough relevant vocabulary to communicate the central request, including “working hours”, “part time course”, “business management”, and “communication and management skills”. These terms make the topic clear, but the range is limited and several phrases are imprecise or unnatural, such as “request for reduction”, “now a days my routine is very hectic”, and “make company better”. Spelling and word-form slips, including “becausse”, also reduce accuracy. Aim for more precise workplace language and natural collocations, for example, describe the course as “part-time studies” and explain how the skills could “benefit the company’s operations”. Check spelling and choose phrases that clearly express your intended meaning.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The response communicates its main points using simple sentence forms and makes an attempt to combine ideas, as in “This course will be beneficial for me as well as for the company because…”. However, the range is narrow, and sentence boundaries and punctuation are often inaccurate. For example, “i really enjoyed working in the company but now a days my routine is very hectic” joins two complete ideas without suitable punctuation, while “if you could reduce my working hours from 35 to 25 hours so i will come…” has a faulty conditional structure. Capitalisation of “I” is also inconsistent. Practise forming a clear request with a modal verb and a separate sentence for the proposed schedule, then check punctuation, capital letters, and sentence structure.

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

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