Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-10-31

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 5.0)

Dear Mrs Barrett,

I hope you are doing well,

I am writing this e-mail in a reply of your advertisement which is about looking for somone who can help you in your home for some hours for upcoming summer. So, i would like to help you for preparing your house for next summer. There is planty of stuff that I can do for you like, decoration, deep cleaning, dusting even in washing cloths. Because, you live in my town and your home is pretty close from location where I live and feeling to help your neigbours is what was developed in me since I was child, please expain me about your week schedule so that I can decide a day that would suitable for both of us to work on this project as I am only free on weekends.

Best regards,

Sehajpreet Kaur

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You address the main purpose by offering household help, giving reasons for wanting the work, and stating that you are free at weekends. The examples—“decoration, deep cleaning, dusting” and washing clothes—are relevant, and your wish to help neighbours gives a personal reason. However, the availability point is incomplete: you do not say which days or times you cannot work, and asking Mrs Barrett to explain her schedule leaves your own availability unclear. The reason for applying could also be developed further. The response is 7 words below the required 150-word minimum, so it needs a little more detail as well as a clear statement of unavailable times.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The letter follows a recognisable format, with a greeting, an opening purpose, supporting details, and a closing. The ideas are relevant, but most of the content is compressed into one long paragraph and one extended sentence, so the reader has to work to distinguish your offer, motivation, and availability. The sequence also shifts abruptly from the list of chores to your reasons and then to a request for her schedule. Use separate paragraphs for your offer and motivation, then your availability, and connect them with clear transitions. This would create a more consistent progression and make the relationships between ideas easier to follow.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use enough topic-related vocabulary to communicate a basic offer, including “deep cleaning,” “dusting,” and “washing clothes.” However, the range is limited, and several spelling and word-choice errors make the letter less clear or natural, such as “somone,” “planty,” and “neigbours.” Some phrases are also awkward for a formal letter: “in a reply of your advertisement” and “pretty close from location where I live.” Choose more precise collocations, such as “in response to your advertisement” and “near my home.” A wider range of household tasks and more natural phrasing would help you express your offer and motivation with greater clarity.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt to combine several ideas using clauses and connectors, but the response relies heavily on one long sentence, and these complex attempts are often difficult to control. For example, the sentence beginning “Because, you live in my town” joins your reason for applying to a request about Mrs Barrett’s schedule without a clear grammatical structure. There are also errors in sentence boundaries and punctuation, including the comma after “I hope you are doing well” where a full stop is needed. Practise separating ideas into complete sentences and checking clause structure, articles, and prepositions. This will make your meaning easier to follow while allowing you to retain some complex sentence forms.

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

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