Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-08-05
IELTS Writing Task 1 question
Mrs Barrett, an English-speaking woman who lives in your town, has advertised for someone to help her in her home for a few hours a day next summer.
Write a letter to Mrs Barrett. In your letter
- suggest how you could help her in her home
- say why you would like to do this work
- explain when you will and will not be available
You do NOT need to write any addresses.
Begin your letter as follows:
Dear Mrs Barrett,
Student answer (Band 5.5)
Dear Mrs Barrett,
I am writing to express my interest in a household worker. I have come to know from the advertisement that you are looking for a person for doing domestic chorices.
I will pleasure by providing services for you at your home. Being a multi-talented person, I will not only prepare food and tea for you and other family members, but also can clean the entire home. Furthermore, I am ready to take responsibility of your children. Such as dropping them for school and playing with them.
The prime reason to opt this job is making myself busy in any work because I free am free from next summer. I cannot live without doing any task. Moreover, this job can assist me to balance my budget effectively,
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0
The letter addresses all three bullet points: suggesting help, explaining the motivation, and stating availability. However, the response is significantly under the 150-word minimum, which limits the development of ideas. For instance, the availability section is incomplete as it fails to specify when you will NOT be available, which was a specific requirement of the prompt. The tone is generally appropriate for a formal letter, but the lack of length and the omission of specific details regarding availability prevent a higher score. To improve, ensure all parts of the prompt are fully expanded upon to meet the word count requirement.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0
The letter is organised into short paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the structure. However, the use of cohesive devices is somewhat mechanical and limited. For example, the transition 'Such as dropping them for school' is a sentence fragment that disrupts the flow. While there is a basic logical progression, the connections between sentences could be smoother. The use of linking words like 'Furthermore' and 'Moreover' is present but could be used more naturally to connect ideas within the paragraphs rather than just starting new ones. Improving the variety of cohesive devices would enhance the overall flow.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The vocabulary is adequate for the task but lacks variety and precision. There are several awkward collocations and word choices, such as 'household worker' instead of 'household help' or 'domestic assistant', and 'domestic chorices' (spelling error for 'chores'). The phrase 'I will pleasure by providing services' is unnatural and incorrect. While the meaning is generally clear, the range of vocabulary is limited, and there are noticeable errors in word choice that occasionally hinder the naturalness of the expression. Expanding your range of topic-specific vocabulary would be beneficial.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The response contains a mix of simple and some attempted complex structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors. Examples include 'I will pleasure by providing', 'I am free from next summer' (the phrasing 'I free am free' is a repetition error), and 'take responsibility of your children' (should be 'for'). Punctuation is also inconsistent, with a comma splice in 'effectively,' at the end of the letter. While the errors do not completely impede communication, they are frequent enough to suggest a lack of control over complex sentence structures. Focusing on subject-verb agreement and correct preposition usage is recommended.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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