Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS General Essentials · 2026-10-02

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

You have enrolled in an evening course but you have found that you are too busy to continue and would like to take the course next term instead.

• explain the situation and why you cannot continue the course

• say what you would like to do about your studies

• ask for advice about what you can do about the situation

Student answer (Band 5.5)

To,

The Administration Department

I am writing this letter to inform about the existing course offering by your institute. Initially i have enrolled in an evening course however due to an family emeregeny and busy schedules it has become challenging for me to continue.My family had an medical emergency so i have to be there with my family therefore i would not able to attend the classes on time. Moreover, i have also shifted to a new town whihc is far from your location rhus would not able to reach on time. This in turn, will affect my credit hours and attendence. I appologize for the inconvenience. Since, i have great academic performance in last few terms and i believe that in future i will recover it immediately. I would appreciate if your recommendation about the situation also your support for the situation.

I am waiting for your positive response.

Faithfully

Istabraq

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

The response addresses the prompt only partially, which places it at this level. While the writer manages to explain the situation regarding the evening course and mentions a family emergency, the ideas remain somewhat limited and under-developed. For instance, the explanation about shifting to a new town and facing a medical emergency is repetitive and lacks extension. The requirement to say what the writer would like to do about their studies is partially met by implying a desire to take the course next term, but asking for advice is handled rather vaguely with the phrase 'your recommendation about the situation also your support for the situation.' To reach a higher level, all parts of the prompt need to be fully developed with clearer positioning and more detailed elaboration.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

There is some basic organisation present in the letter, but overall it lacks a clear progression of ideas. The message is grouped into a main body and a brief sign-off, but the paragraphing is insufficient as the entire core message is crammed into a single dense block of text. Cohesive devices are used rather repetitively or awkwardly, such as the repeated use of 'therefore' and 'moreover', and referencing is sometimes unclear, making the flow somewhat mechanical. To improve coherence and cohesion, the writer should separate the text into distinct paragraphs for each bullet point of the task and employ a wider, more natural variety of linking words to guide the reader smoothly through the letter.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is limited but minimally adequate to convey the basic message. The writer attempts some less common vocabulary items, such as 'institute' and 'emergency', but these attempts are accompanied by noticeable errors in word choice, collocation, and spelling, such as 'emeregeny', 'whihc', and 'rhus'. Furthermore, phrases like 'recover it immediately' or 'academic performance in last few terms' sound unnatural. These lexical slips and inaccuracies sometimes cause slight difficulty for the reader. To achieve a higher score, the writer needs to expand their lexical range, pay closer attention to word formation and spelling, and use more precise collocations suited to formal correspondence.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The response displays a very limited range of sentence structures, relying mostly on basic or heavily faulty complex sentences. There are frequent errors in grammar and punctuation throughout the text that can cause difficulty for the reader, including tense inconsistencies such as 'Initially i have enrolled', missing articles like 'an family emeregeny', and fragments or run-on structures such as 'this in turn, will affect my credit hours and attendence.' Punctuation and capitalization are also unreliable, as seen in the lowercase 'i'. To move up, the writer must demonstrate a better control over basic grammatical patterns, improve punctuation, and increase the frequency of error-free sentences while attempting complex structures accurately.

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

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