Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-10-13

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 Barrett,

I am writing in response your advertisement for someone to help you in your home. I have keen interest to work with you. Because i want to gain my experience and earn some money for my summer vacations. I can help you in various ways. Firstly, my cooking skill is very good, so i can help to prepare some meals for you and, doing laundry, washing utencils and some cleaning in your home. Along with this, sometime i can go with him for grocery shopping and other important ingrediants. Moreover, i am avaiable on the weekdays from Monday to Friday, However, i can not work on weekends because, i spend time with my family on that days as evryone free from our work and we spend every weekend together by organising small party. If you would inform in advance, i can some time for you in afternoon.

I hope you will understand my condition and recruit me as soon as possible.

Yours faithfully,

Gagan

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You address all three points: you offer cooking, laundry and cleaning, explain that you want experience and summer income, and give weekday availability while excluding weekends. These details make the letter relevant and its purpose clear. However, some points are less fully explained or are unclear: “If you would inform in advance, i can some time for you in afternoon” does not clearly state which afternoons you can work, and “go with him” leaves the person you mean uncertain. The reason for wanting the job is also brief. To strengthen the response, specify your preferred hours and clarify who you would accompany, while developing your motivation with one relevant detail.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The information follows a generally sensible order: you introduce your interest, describe possible duties, then explain availability and close politely. Connectors such as “Firstly,” “Along with this” and “Moreover” help signal the list of ideas. At times, however, the linking feels mechanical, and the long sentence about weekends combines several points, making the schedule harder to follow. The reference in “go with him” is also unclear, which weakens cohesion between ideas. Use separate paragraphs for your offer, motivation and availability, and make each sentence focus on one main point. Clearer transitions and references would make the letter easier to read.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use a range of relevant household vocabulary, including “prepare some meals,” “doing laundry,” “washing utensils” and “grocery shopping,” so the reader can understand the help you are offering. There are also attempts at more specific expressions, such as “earn some money” and “organising small party.” However, several spelling and word-choice errors reduce accuracy, including “utencils,” “ingred iants” (written as “ingred iants” in the response without a space: “ingred iants” is not intended; the actual form is “ingred iants” [sic]), “avaiable” and “condition.” Some phrases are unnatural, such as “gain my experience.” Check spelling carefully and choose more natural collocations to make your vocabulary more precise.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentences, including a reason clause with “because” and a longer sentence explaining your weekend commitments. The main message is usually understandable, but some grammatical errors affect clarity. For example, “I am writing in response your advertisement” needs a preposition, and “Because i want…” is an incomplete sentence rather than a continuation of the previous idea. In “If you would inform in advance, i can some time for you in afternoon,” the conditional structure and main clause are not correctly formed. There are also issues with articles, agreement and punctuation in “on that days” and “because, i spend.” Practise complete sentences and conditional forms, and proofread capitalization and punctuation.

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

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