Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-09-12
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
Recently,I have viewed your advertisement on social media platform about seeking helper in your households .Hence , I am not occupied in next summer and want to grab the opportunity to working in your house .I want to let you know that last year I have completed my course in cooking and confectionery and also eight moths experience in someone’s house . Moreover , I am also interested in English speaking course and this would helpful in polishing my English speaking course . If you will permit me to this service , I will wholeheartedly provide best services in your households . And want to let you know that availability of my presence , in the morning time I will be busy and afternoon I will be available. This is my schedule , please consider this schedule and give me an opportunity according to this .
Your sincerely
Kuldeep
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 6.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0
The candidate has successfully addressed all three bullet points required by the task prompt. First, the student suggests how they can help by mentioning a course in cooking and confectionery and previous household experience ('completed my course in cooking and confectionery and also eight moths experience'). Second, the reason for wanting the job is clearly stated, linked to improving English communication ('this would helpful in polishing my English speaking course'). Third, availability is explicitly outlined ('in the morning time I will be busy and afternoon I will be available'). Although the ideas are somewhat basic and lack extended elaboration, all parts of the prompt are covered satisfactorily. Therefore, the response fulfills the core requirements of Task Achievement at a Band 6 level.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0
The letter maintains a reasonably coherent overall arrangement and flows sequentially through the required points. However, the cohesion is hindered significantly by the complete lack of proper paragraphing, as the entire message is written as a single dense block of text. Furthermore, cohesive devices are sometimes mechanical or awkwardly handled, such as starting consecutive sentences with 'Hence' and 'Moreover', or repetitive phrasing like 'want to let you know'. Referencing and logical progression are generally understandable, but the visual presentation and lack of structural separation between greeting, body, and sign-off drop the organizational score. This performance corresponds to a Band 5.0 for coherence and cohesion.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.0
The vocabulary used is adequate to convey the basic message but remains quite limited and basic. The student attempts some less common vocabulary items related to the context, such as 'confectionery', 'advertisement', and 'opportunity', but these are accompanied by noticeable word choice and collocation errors (e.g., 'seeking helper in your households' instead of 'seeking a helper', 'eight moths experience' instead of 'months', and 'polishing my English speaking course'). Spelling errors like 'moths' for 'months' occur, and vocabulary repetition is evident. The lexical range is minimally adequate for the task, fitting the Band 5 descriptor.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as conditional clauses ('If you will permit me...'). However, grammatical accuracy is weak throughout the text. There are frequent errors in verb tenses, prepositions, and articles, such as 'I have viewed' (instead of 'I saw'), 'in next summer' (instead of 'next summer'), 'to working' (instead of 'to work'), and 'availability of my presence'. Punctuation is also problematic, notably with spacing errors around commas and periods (e.g., 'Recently,I have viewed', 'Hence , I'). While the meaning can still be understood by the reader, the high frequency of non-systematic errors places this firmly in the Band 5 category.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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