Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-10-09

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 Sir or Madam,

I am writing this letter to request a reduction in my working hours as I want to continue my part time study .

Recently, I decided to enrol in part-time course.It has many benefits. Firstly, it can develop my technical skills and also boost my confidence by communicating with other people.However, It is quite diificult for me to manage both studies and work.Therfore, I would like to request a reduction in my working hours.

I would like to work from Monday to thurday from 8:00 am to 3:00pm. I would appreciate it if you could give me permission to do work at this time. Due to this, I can easily concentrate on my study without having any stress. I hope you will understand my situation. I look forward to hearing from you. Thank you for your Consideration.

Yours Faithfully,

Arshdeep Kaur

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.5

You make the main request clear and give a reason: you want to study part time but find it difficult to manage work and study together. You also specify a proposed schedule, Monday to Thursday from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. However, the benefit to your employer is not explained: the benefits you mention, such as developing technical skills and confidence, are presented as benefits to you, without showing how they would help the workplace. The request and its supporting ideas therefore address the task only partially. The response is also five words below the required minimum. Add a specific employer-focused benefit, such as applying new skills to your duties, and develop the explanation sufficiently.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The letter has a recognisable sequence: you introduce the request, explain your study plans, propose working hours, and close politely. Paragraphing helps separate these stages, and linking expressions such as “Firstly,” “However,” and “Therfore” show how you intend the ideas to connect. The overall arrangement is coherent, but some links are mechanical or unclear. For example, “Due to this” does not clearly identify whether it refers to the proposed schedule or the reduction in hours. The transition from your personal study benefits to the request could also be smoother. Use clearer references and connect each paragraph directly to the purpose of the letter.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use enough vocabulary to communicate the main points, including “reduction in my working hours,” “enrol,” “technical skills,” and “concentrate.” There are also attempts at more formal letter language, such as “I would appreciate it if” and “I look forward to hearing from you.” However, spelling and word-choice errors reduce accuracy, including “diificult,” “Therfore,” and “thurday.” Some phrases are also awkward or imprecise, particularly “give me permission to do work at this time” and “continue my part time study.” These do not prevent the reader from understanding your request, but more accurate spelling and natural collocations would make the letter more professional.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, including the reason clause in “as I want to continue my part time study” and the conditional structure “I would appreciate it if you could give me permission.” Most sentences communicate their meaning, and the request is generally easy to follow. Some grammatical and punctuation errors remain. For example, “I decided to enrol in part-time course” needs an article, and “It” after “However,” should not be capitalised mid-sentence. There are also inconsistent spaces before punctuation and missing spaces after full stops. Check articles, sentence boundaries, and punctuation carefully while retaining your attempts at varied structures.

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.