Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-29

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

You do NOT need to write any addresses.

Begin your letter as follows:

Dear....... ,

Student answer (Band 5.5)

Dear Ms Aimen,

I am writing this letter to introduce myself as i am a new employee in the company. Before this job, i was working with a healthcare cinic named as Al Noor clinic.

Firstly, I would like to tell you about my studies.My degree is Docor of Physical therapy which is a five year doctorate program. Furthermore, I got distinction in Manual therapy and was selected as a Junior physiotherapist at Railway Hospital.

Secondly, my expertise are in dry needling, kinesio taping and dry cupping. I am hoping this would work better with your firm as these skills are the priority for this job.If you want to set up a meeting i will be available from 12pm to 8pm on Monday to Friday.I hope you would guide me in a bestest way through my job for the sake of patients progress.

I am looking forward to hear from you soon.

Yours sincerely

Fareah Aziz

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response5.5
Coherence and Cohesion6.0
Lexical Resource5.5
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.5
Overall5.5

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You address the main purpose by introducing yourself, outlining your education and experience, explaining the skills you bring, and offering your availability for a meeting. The details about your physiotherapy degree, distinction in manual therapy, and work at Railway Hospital make the introduction relevant. However, the request for help from your mentor is only partly answered: “guide me … through my job” is broad, and the letter does not specify what advice or support you would value. The meeting suggestion gives days and hours but would be more complete if you proposed a particular day, time, or place and invited the mentor to suggest an alternative. Develop these points to make each part of the task equally clear.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The letter follows a generally clear order: introduction, background and skills, then meeting arrangements and a closing. “Firstly” and “Secondly” help signal the sequence, and the reader can follow the main information. However, these transitions feel somewhat mechanical, and the studies, work experience, skills, mentoring request, and availability are crowded into a single main paragraph. Separate the background from your request and meeting proposal, and use more natural links between ideas. For example, connect your experience to the support you hope to receive, then move clearly to the practical arrangements. This would improve progression and make the letter easier to scan.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant vocabulary for your professional context, including “physiotherapist,” “Manual therapy,” “dry needling,” and “kinesio taping.” These terms communicate your background and skills, although the range is somewhat limited and several expressions are inaccurate or unnatural. “Healthcare cinic” contains a spelling error, while “my expertise are” and “work better with your firm” do not express your meaning naturally. “Bestest way” is also unsuitable in this professional letter. Aim for precise collocations and check spelling: for instance, describe your “areas of expertise” and say how your skills could “contribute to the team.” This would make your vocabulary more accurate and appropriately formal.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The letter includes both simple statements and some longer structures, such as “Furthermore, I got distinction in Manual therapy and was selected as a Junior physiotherapist at Railway Hospital.” The main message remains understandable, but errors in sentence construction, agreement, articles, and punctuation are noticeable. Examples include “my expertise are,” “a five year doctorate program,” and “I am looking forward to hear from you.” Capitalisation and spacing also need attention, as in “i” and “studies.My.” Use “my expertise is,” “a five-year doctoral programme,” and “looking forward to hearing from you.” More careful editing of these patterns, alongside varied but controlled sentence forms, would improve accuracy.

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

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