Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-11-03

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,

I hope you are doing well. I want to let you know that I am working in your office as the position of accountant. I am working 40 hours a week at your workplace. I am doing the human resource management course at university and it is difficult for me to manage the work and studies together. Can you please reduce my hours from 40 to 20 hours per week? I have my classes from Monday to Thursday and, I am available to work on weekends only. My part-time studies will benefit for your company in future by learning the new skills of human resource management. I will handle all the operations of HR as well as accountancy and I will put my all efforts to increase the productivity in your company. Kindly, reduce my working hours so that I can focus to my studies which will help to enhance productivity of the company.

Regards

Anmol Arora

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

The letter addresses all three required points: you explain that balancing your job with a human resource management course is difficult, request a reduction from 40 to 20 hours, and describe potential benefits to the company. The request is clear and the proposed weekend availability gives the employer useful information. The benefit is relevant, especially your intention to apply HR skills alongside accountancy, but it is stated rather generally; explain more specifically how this knowledge could improve a workplace process or support staff. The opening also spends space establishing that you are an accountant, which is less important than developing the reason for studying and the practical arrangement. The response covers the task well overall, with some ideas less fully developed than others.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The information follows a broadly sensible order: your current role and difficulty, the requested schedule, and the expected benefit to the company. However, the letter is presented as one continuous paragraph, so the reason, proposed hours, and benefits are not clearly separated. This limits the progression and makes the message feel like a sequence of statements rather than a carefully organised request. Some links are also awkward or repetitive, particularly the repeated use of “I am” and the final repetition of the request to reduce your hours. Use two or three short paragraphs and connect the points more naturally—for example, move from your study commitments to a specific schedule, then explain the employer’s benefit.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use enough vocabulary to communicate the main points, including relevant terms such as “human resource management,” “productivity,” and “accountancy.” These show awareness of the workplace and study context. However, several phrases are unnatural or imprecise, such as “working in your office as the position of accountant,” “benefit for your company,” and “put my all efforts.” Repetition of “company,” “working hours,” and “productivity” also limits flexibility. Choose more natural collocations and vary the wording where possible; for instance, describe applying your HR knowledge to support the organisation rather than promising broadly to increase productivity. The meaning remains understandable, but more accurate phrasing would make the letter sound more professional.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The letter includes both simple statements and some longer structures, such as the sentence explaining that your course makes it difficult to manage work and study. Most ideas remain understandable, but some grammatical errors are noticeable. In “I am working in your office as the position of accountant,” the structure is faulty; “I work in your office as an accountant” is more accurate. The sentence “I have my classes from Monday to Thursday and, I am available…” has an unnecessary comma, while “focus to my studies” uses an incorrect preposition within the grammatical pattern. There is also a comma after “Kindly” that is not needed. Aim for a wider range of accurately controlled sentences and check articles, prepositions, and punctuation.

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

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