Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-08-08

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 formally show my interest in your advertisement that you posted about you need someone to help you in your home for few hours for help.

I would appreciate it if you could give me that opportunity to help you at your home. I would like to help you doing your groceries, cleaning your home and gardening if you like planting new flowers and plants. I can even help cooking small meals for you and doing the laundries, ironing the clothes. Go for looking after your pets if you have.

I really like to help people who are busy or elderly can do things by themselves. I got donot have so much plans in next summer to do, Honestly. So i have plenty of time to come at you home and help. I will be available Monday to friday from 10 am - 6 pm. Because on weekends i like to got out with my friends or family.

I look forward to see your response.

Yours sincerely

Prabh

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

You have addressed all three bullet points in the prompt: suggesting how you can help, explaining your motivation, and clarifying your availability. The ideas are relevant and clearly presented. However, the development of these points is somewhat basic. For example, while you list several tasks like 'cleaning' and 'gardening', the explanation of why you want to do this work is quite brief. To reach a higher band, you could expand on your personal motivation or previous experience to make the letter more persuasive and professional. Overall, the tone is appropriate for a formal letter to a stranger, and the purpose of the communication is clear throughout.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The letter follows a logical progression, moving from the purpose of the letter to specific offers of help, then to your motivation and availability. Paragraphing is used, though the structure is a bit fragmented. You use some basic cohesive devices like 'because' and 'so', but the flow between sentences could be improved with more varied linking words (e.g., 'furthermore', 'consequently', or 'regarding my availability'). Some transitions are slightly mechanical, and the referencing is occasionally unclear, such as in the sentence 'Go for looking after your pets', which lacks a clear subject and connection to the previous thought.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

You use a sufficient range of vocabulary to convey your message, covering domestic tasks and scheduling. However, there are several instances of awkward word choice and collocation errors, such as 'doing the laundries' (laundry is uncountable) and 'Go for looking after your pets' (which is grammatically and lexically unnatural). You also use 'I got donot have' which is a significant error. While the vocabulary is adequate for the task, it lacks the precision and flexibility required for higher bands. Focusing on correct collocations and avoiding repetitive phrasing would significantly improve your score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

Your writing shows a mix of simple and some complex sentence structures. However, there are frequent grammatical errors that occasionally impede the flow of reading. Examples include 'advertisement that you posted about you need someone', 'I really like to help people who are busy or elderly can do things', and 'I look forward to see your response' (should be 'to seeing'). Subject-verb agreement and preposition usage are inconsistent. While the meaning is generally understandable, the high frequency of errors in basic sentence construction prevents this from reaching a higher band. You should focus on verb patterns and sentence structure accuracy.

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

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