Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-11-01

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 6.5)

Dear Mr John,

I am writing to request you to deduce my working hours as I am planning to start my part time course for next six months. It is an on campus course, which requires me to study for twenty hours per week.

Let me explain this situation, as I am currently a team head at your store, working 50-60 hours every week. However, this is a upskill marketing course, that I am really passionate about. I know this is the busiest time of the season at our store, therefore I opted for this course as part time only. I can work every week for 30 hours, especially in the evenings, when I know our store is usually running busy.

This course is actually very beneficial for me as I would get a chance to study about marketing strategies, chain and how to boost sales. Consequently, this in return will help me to apply all these learnings at our store..

Thankyou for your consideration. Let me know if you have any additional questions for me.

Yours sincerely,

Rasanpreet Jaura

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.0

The letter addresses all three required points and maintains a clear, polite request. You explain that the on-campus course requires twenty hours of study each week, propose working 30 hours, and identify evenings as a suitable time because the store is busy then. You also connect the marketing course to the employer’s interests by mentioning strategies and boosting sales. These ideas are relevant and sufficiently extended to make your purpose clear. To strengthen the response further, make the practical arrangement more precise—for example, specify which days or evening hours you can work—and explain more directly how the new knowledge could be applied to the store. The benefit is clear, though it remains somewhat general.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 7.0

The letter follows a clear progression: you make the request, explain your circumstances and proposed schedule, describe the course’s benefits, and close politely. Paragraphing helps distinguish these stages, while phrases such as “Let me explain this situation” and “Consequently” guide the reader through your reasoning. The overall organisation is easy to follow. Some links are less smooth, however: “therefore I opted for this course as part time only” does not clearly connect the busy season to your choice, and “Consequently, this in return” repeats the same linking idea. A more direct transition between the schedule and the employer benefit, with fewer or more precise connectors, would make the progression feel more natural.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range for a workplace request, including relevant terms such as “on campus course,” “marketing strategies,” and “boost sales.” These choices make the subject and intended benefit clear, and the tone is generally appropriate. There are some inaccurate or unnatural word choices and collocations, including “deduce my working hours,” “a upskill marketing course,” and “study about marketing strategies, chain.” “Thankyou” is also conventionally written as two words. These slips do not prevent understanding, but they limit precision and naturalness. Choose established expressions such as “reduce my working hours,” “a marketing course to develop my skills,” and “learn about marketing strategies and supply chains.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

The response includes both straightforward sentences and more complex forms, such as “which requires me to study for twenty hours per week” and “when I know our store is usually running busy.” This gives the letter some structural variety, and the main message remains understandable. Some grammatical errors persist, particularly with articles and sentence construction: “a upskill marketing course” needs an appropriate article and structure, while “I am currently a team head at your store, working 50-60 hours” would be clearer with a more controlled clause. The final benefit sentence also has an awkward construction, and the double full stop after “store” is a punctuation error. Review article use and simplify sentences when the structure becomes difficult to control.

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

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