Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-11

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 Mentor,

I am writing this email to indroduce myself to avoid any misunderstanding in future.

Firstly, I would like to explain you that I have completed my study in automotive technician in

2019 and it is been 3 years that I am working for this reputable company as a car technician.

I have been dealing with so many problems, especially in the new cars where it is extremely complicated to diagnose the electrical problems. I believe that your advice or experience could help me a lot to diagnose problems easily.

I am so excited to meet you, and I think we should plan a meeting this coming Friday as we both have days off to discuss about future work.

I hope to hear from you soon.

Best Regards,

Adam

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You address all three points: you outline your automotive studies and three years as a car technician, explain that you want help diagnosing electrical problems, and suggest meeting on Friday. These details are relevant and give the mentor a clear starting point. However, the request for support is quite narrow, and the meeting proposal would be more useful if you suggested a time or place and checked whether Friday suits the mentor. The letter also falls 20 words short of the required minimum, so there is limited space to develop your background and expectations. Add a little more about your previous responsibilities and the skills or career guidance you hope to gain.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The letter has a clear overall sequence: introduction, background, the help you need, and a proposed meeting, followed by a closing. Paragraph breaks make the main points easy to locate, and transitions such as “Firstly” and “I hope to hear from you soon” help signal the progression. Some linking is slightly mechanical, however, and the opening’s purpose of avoiding “any misunderstanding” does not connect naturally to the rest of the letter. The final meeting paragraph also combines enthusiasm, the proposed date, and the meeting purpose without much development. A more direct opening and a separate, clearly phrased invitation would make the progression smoother and the connections between ideas more natural.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use enough topic-specific vocabulary to communicate your background and needs, including “automotive technician,” “car technician,” and “electrical problems.” The wording is generally understandable, but the range is limited and some choices or collocations are inaccurate or awkward, such as “completed my study in automotive technician,” “reputable company,” and “discuss about future work.” There is also a spelling error in “indroduce.” These issues do not prevent the reader from understanding your message, but they reduce precision and naturalness. Aim for more conventional workplace expressions, such as describing your qualification as a course or diploma and saying that you would like to discuss your goals or career development.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

Your message uses a mix of simple sentences and some longer structures, and the main meaning remains clear. However, several grammatical errors appear in the longer sentences. For example, “it is been 3 years that I am working” has an incorrect verb form and tense; “I would like to explain you” is missing a grammatical element after “explain”; and “as we both have days off” needs clearer tense and phrasing in this context. The sentence about diagnosing problems also joins ideas in a way that makes the relationship less precise. Practise present perfect forms for experience continuing to the present, and check verb patterns and prepositions. More accurate control of these structures would make the letter sound more fluent and professional.

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