Band 4.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-08-15

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 4.5)

DEAR MRS BARRETT

I CAN HELP YOU BY DOING YOUR HOUSEHOLD CHORES

AND I HAVE TO HELP MY FAMILY BECAUSE WE ARE RUNNING LOW ON MONEY AND WE NEED MONEY TO PAY OUR BILLS

AND IN YOUR HOUSE I WILL DO THE LAUNDRY AND COOK FOOD FO YOU OR YOUR CHILDREN AND BY THE WAY MRS BARRET MY NAME IS JASON AND MY AGE IS AROUND 29

I AM FIT AND HEALTHY AND I CAN DO WORK AT ANYTIME AND HELP YOU OUT IN MANY WAYS DEFEND YOU PROTRCT I AM BRAVE AND HONEST AND MY HOME IS 4 HOUSES DOWN THE BLOCK OF THE STREET CALL ME MY NUMBER IS +1 [redacted phone] AND CONTACT ME AT MORNING AND AFTERNOONFROM 2;00 IWILL BE AVAILABLE TO 1;00 IN THE NIGHT OKAY

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 4.5

The response addresses all three bullet points: suggesting help, explaining the motivation, and stating availability. However, the development of these ideas is very limited. The tone is inappropriate for a formal letter to a potential employer; phrases like 'defend you protect' are confusing and irrelevant to the task. Furthermore, the response fails to meet the minimum word count requirement of 150 words, which significantly impacts the depth of the response. To improve, you should expand on your skills and provide a more professional explanation of your availability and motivation.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 4.0

The letter lacks paragraphing, which makes it difficult to follow. The text is essentially one long, run-on sentence with excessive use of the conjunction 'and'. There is a lack of logical progression or cohesive devices to link ideas effectively. The absence of standard letter formatting (such as an introduction and conclusion) further hinders the coherence of the message. To improve, you must use clear paragraph breaks for each bullet point and use transition words like 'furthermore', 'consequently', or 'however' to connect your ideas.

Lexical Resource — Band 4.5

The vocabulary is very basic and repetitive. There is a lack of variety, and the word choice is often unnatural or inappropriate for the context of a job application. For example, 'cook food fo you' contains a spelling error and is overly simplistic. The phrase 'defend you protect' is unclear and does not fit the context of household help. You need to expand your vocabulary to include more professional and descriptive terms related to domestic work and formal correspondence.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 4.0

The grammar is poor, characterized by a lack of punctuation, capitalization errors (the entire text is in uppercase), and run-on sentences. There is no evidence of complex sentence structures. Basic errors in syntax and punctuation make the text difficult to read. For instance, the time expression '2;00 IWILL BE AVAILABLE TO 1;00 IN THE NIGHT' is confusing and grammatically incorrect. You need to focus on basic sentence construction, proper use of periods, and standard capitalization to improve clarity.

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

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