Band 4.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 4.0 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-09-19
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 4.0)
Dear Mrs Barrett,
I hope you are fine. Tell me about your problem I could solve it for you because you are the lady that live in town where I also live. At afternoon i will come in your home to solve that problem. As we live in same town its our duty to help eachother. So i would like to help you. Inshort I shall come in your house at 5 pm.I would like to do this work because I know you need a person that can help you and whenever you need help you just tell me.And i shall available for you.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 4.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 4.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 4.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 4.0 |
| Overall | 4.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 4.0
The response attempts to cover the prompt requirements by suggesting help, stating why the writer wants to do the work, and mentioning availability. However, the ideas are severely underdeveloped, repetitive, and lack specific detail regarding what kind of help will be provided. Furthermore, the response suffers from a major negative penalty because it fails to meet the minimum length requirement, containing only 104 words compared to the required 150. While the tone is polite, the lack of task expansion and failure to meet the word count severely limit the score. These shortcomings place the response firmly in the band 4 range for Task Achievement.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 4.0
The letter lacks proper paragraphing, presented instead as a single block of text with a short introductory greeting. Cohesive devices are minimal, mechanical, or misused, such as 'Inshort' and repetitive use of 'and'. The logical progression of ideas is disjointed, jumping abruptly between problem-solving, availability, and motivation without clear transitions. Referencing is also occasionally unclear, such as 'that problem' and 'that work' without adequate contextual introduction. Overall, the structural and cohesive weaknesses reflect a band 4 performance.
Lexical Resource — Band 4.0
The vocabulary used is very basic, repetitive, and restricted to everyday terms such as 'problem', 'help', 'town', and 'house'. There are noticeable word choice and collocation issues, such as 'Tell me about your problem I could solve it for you' and 'At afternoon i will come in your home'. Spelling errors like 'Inshort' also occur. While the language is simple enough to convey a basic communicative intent, the lack of range and precision prevents it from reaching a higher band, making a band 4 score appropriate.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 4.0
The student relies mostly on simple and inaccurate sentence structures. There is a frequent lack of punctuation and capitalization control, such as 'At afternoon i will come', 'eachother', and missing commas in compound sentences. Grammatical errors are common, including missing articles ('live in town'), incorrect prepositions ('come in your home' instead of 'come to your house'), and run-on sentences. Complex structures are attempted incorrectly, resulting in frequent errors that cause some difficulty for the reader. This performance aligns with band 4 descriptors.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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