Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-08-09

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 hope you are doing well, I am writing a letter to inform you I am live near your house and I saw your advertisement .I want to inform you .I am good cook . I have good Culinary skills also I m working in restaurant as a main chef.

I love to cook food . firstly, it’s my hobby and secondly it’s my profession.I leant this skill from my grandmother when I was child . I have three years experience cooks the food . I can make Punjabi , Chinese and Italian food . If you want I can make food for you and also I will do clean your house . However, I can do work three days in a week like on Saturday, Sunday and Wednesday because on other day I have work in restaurant.

If any further inquiries please inform me at any time.

Best regards,

Manpreet.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The letter addresses all three bullet points: suggesting help, explaining the motivation, and detailing availability. However, the development of these points is somewhat basic. While you mention your culinary skills and willingness to clean, the explanation of why you want the work is brief. The tone is generally appropriate for a letter to a neighbor, though it lacks the polish expected in a formal or semi-formal request. To improve, you should expand on how your specific skills would benefit Mrs. Barrett and ensure the tone remains consistent throughout the letter.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The letter is organized into short paragraphs, which helps the reader follow your points. However, the use of cohesive devices is quite limited and sometimes mechanical. For example, the transition 'firstly, it’s my hobby and secondly it’s my profession' is a good start, but other parts of the letter feel like a list of sentences rather than a cohesive flow of ideas. The punctuation is also inconsistent, particularly with comma usage and sentence boundaries, which occasionally disrupts the logical progression of your message.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'culinary skills', 'advertisement', and 'inquiries'. However, there are several instances of awkward phrasing and word choice errors, such as 'I am live near your house' instead of 'I live near your house' and 'I have three years experience cooks the food' instead of 'three years of experience cooking'. These errors do not prevent understanding, but they limit the precision of your communication. Expanding your vocabulary to include more natural collocations would improve your score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The response relies heavily on simple sentence structures. While you attempt some complex ideas, the grammatical control is inconsistent. There are frequent errors in verb tense and subject-verb agreement, such as 'I leant this skill' (should be 'learned') and 'I will do clean your house' (should be 'I will clean your house'). Additionally, there are several run-on sentences and comma splices, such as 'I hope you are doing well, I am writing a letter'. These errors are frequent and occasionally require the reader to re-read to grasp the intended meaning.

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

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