Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-02

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

All new employees at your workplace have a mentor - an experienced colleague who gives them advice and support in their career. As a new employee, you have been given details of your mentor.

Write a letter to introduce yourself to your new mentor. In your letter

• give a brief outline of your previous studies and work experience

• explain what help you hope your mentor can give

• suggest arrangements for a first meeting with your mentor

You do NOT need to write any addresses.

Begin your letter as follows:

Dear....... ,

Student answer (Band 5.5)

Dear Rohan,

I am writing this letter to let you know that I am assigned under your care. My name is Gurpreet and I completed my graduation in Business Mangement from Humber College, Toronto. I do have previous experiences in working in a warehouse in direct management . I am very adaptive in learning new things and I always try to find ways to complete the task more efficiently. As my mentor, I will need your help in certain areas such as meeting all employees and also please let me know about the overview of the job I am going to perform. I would also like to arrange a ameeting where we can discuss further. Please let me know when you have time to catch-up. You can contact me through the same email thread. I shall be very thankful to you for being so tolerative.

Yours Sincerely,

ABC

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses all parts of the prompt by introducing Gurpreet, outlining previous studies and work experience, explaining the expected help, and suggesting arrangements for a first meeting. However, some bullet points are less fully developed than others. For instance, the outline of previous studies and work experience is rather brief, noting only a graduation in Business Management and warehouse experience without much elaboration. Furthermore, the length requirement is not met, as the response falls slightly short of the minimum word count of 150 words. To reach a higher band, the writer should ensure all requirements are explored with more extended and fully supported ideas.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The letter maintains a coherent overall arrangement and follows an appropriate structure for a professional yet introductory workplace message, moving logically from the introduction to background, expected assistance, and finally a meeting request. Cohesion is present, but it is at times somewhat mechanical, relying on basic transitions and referencing that could be smoother. Paragraphing is attempted, but the body of the letter is compressed into a single block rather than being broken down into distinct paragraphs for background, support needs, and meeting arrangements. To improve, the writer should use more flexible cohesive devices and organise the content into clearly separated paragraphs to enhance logical progression.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The lexical resource is adequate for the task, demonstrating enough vocabulary to communicate the intended message about professional background and workplace needs. The writer attempts some less common vocabulary, such as 'efficiently' and 'adaptive', though there are noticeable inaccuracies in word choice, spelling, and word form, such as 'Mangement' instead of management, 'experiences' used incorrectly as a countable noun in this context, and 'tolerative' instead of tolerant. These errors do not seriously impede communication, but they restrict the score. To achieve a higher band, the writer needs to expand the range of vocabulary, improve precision in word choice and collocations, and eliminate spelling and word-form errors.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

The response uses a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as 'I am very adaptive in learning new things and I always try to find ways to complete the task more efficiently.' There are some errors in grammar and punctuation, such as unnecessary spacing before punctuation marks and awkward phrasing like 'I am assigned under your care' rather than 'assigned to you'. However, these grammatical errors are relatively minor and rarely impede communication, allowing the reader to follow the meaning easily. To move to a higher band, the writer should demonstrate a wider variety of complex sentence structures with frequent error-free sentences and tighter control over prepositions and phrasing.

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

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