Band 4.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 4.0 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-09-29
IELTS Writing Task 1 question
You started in your present job two years ago. You now feel it is important for your career development to move to a different department in the same company.
Write a letter to your manager. In your letter
- say what you have learned in your present job
- suggest how the company would benefit from moving you to a different department
- explain why you do not wish to leave the company
You do NOT need to write any addresses.
Begin your letter as follows:
Dear ....................................,
Student answer (Band 4.0)
It is sometimes said that borrowing money from a friend can damage a friendship. I agree with this statement because money can create misunderstandings, stress and trust issues including dicomfortment between friends.
Firstly, borrowing money can cause problems when a person does not return on time and make excuses. The friend who gave the money may need it for personal use but sometime they must be feel uncomfortable asking it for return. This situation can create stress and arguments between friends . For example if someone borrows 5000 thousands from a friend and promises to return it within one month but fails to return, then the person who gave money may disappointed and lose trust in that other personwho is asking for money.
Secondly, money can change the way friends behave with each other. Before borrowing money, they may have a comfortable and friendly relationship. However, after this incident , one person may constantly worry about money. The borrower may also start avoiding that person because they feel embarrassed about not being able to return it. As a result, they may communicate less and their friendship can slowly become weaker.
However, borrowing money does not always destroy a friendship. If both friends are honest and clearly agree on when the money will be returned, problems can be avoided. A responsible person should also make every effort to return the money on time.
In conclusion, I agree that borrowing money from friends can damage friendships, especially when money is not returned as promised. Therefore, people should be careful when borrowing from friends and should always respect their promises.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 1.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 4.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 4.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 1.0
Your response is completely off-topic. You have written an essay about whether borrowing money from friends damages relationships, which is an Academic Task 2 prompt. However, the actual task required you to write a letter to your manager explaining what you learned in your present job, suggesting how the company would benefit from your department move, and explaining why you want to stay in the company. Because you did not address any of the bullet points required for this General Training Task 1 letter, this falls significantly below the requirements of the task. For a passing grade, you must carefully read the prompt and respond to the specific scenario and instructions given.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.0
Looking at the structure of your writing, you have attempted to organise your ideas into logical paragraphs with introductory and concluding remarks, using transition words like 'Firstly', 'Secondly', and 'However'. While the internal structure of your essay follows a standard academic format, it does not meet the requirements of a letter. A letter requires appropriate greeting and sign-off conventions, which are completely absent here. The logical progression is present for an essay, but the lack of letter formatting and the complete mismatch with the prompt severely impacts your score.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.0
You demonstrate a basic vocabulary range that is adequate for communicating simple ideas, using words such as 'misunderstandings', 'arguments', and 'embarrassed'. However, there are noticeable lexical errors, such as 'dicomfortment' (discomfort), 'asking it for return' (asking for its return), and awkward phrasing like '5000 thousands'. Furthermore, repetition is evident, such as repeatedly using 'return' and 'friend'. While you attempt some less common vocabulary, the errors and the inappropriate register for a business letter prevent you from achieving a higher band score.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0
Your writing contains a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as 'I agree with this statement because money can create misunderstandings...'. However, you make frequent grammatical errors that detract from your writing, including missing prepositions, tense inconsistencies, and awkward constructions such as 'sometime they must be feel uncomfortable asking it for return' and 'may disappointed'. Punctuation errors, such as missing commas after introductory phrases and spacing issues around punctuation marks, also persist. These errors show limited control over complex 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.