Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-11-11

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

You work for an international company. You have seen an advertisement for a training course which will be useful for your job.

Write a letter to your manager. In your letter

• describe the training course you want to do
• explain what the company could do to help you
• say how the course will be useful for your job

You do NOT need to write any addresses.

Begin your letter as follows:

Dear Sir or Madam,

Student answer (Band 5.5)

Dear sir or madam,

Im writting this letter to to get permission to join customer servise course. I had seen an advertisement related to this course.

I really want to do this course because im not good to handle customer. This is a good time to improve my skill. I will take 1 month to complete this course and i will be twice in a week. I requesting you to cover my course fee and i need 2 holidays in a week to complete this course.

It is useful for me because it helps me to deal with customer, provide good service and also improve my problem-solving skill. I will also share my experience with my colleague. I will be waiting for your response in a postive way.

yours faithfully,

Amanjot Kaur

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You address all three requested points: you identify a customer service course, ask the company to pay the fee and allow time off, and explain that it could help you serve customers and solve problems. However, the request is only partly developed. For example, “I will be twice in a week” does not clearly explain the schedule, and “2 holidays in a week” may sound like two full days off rather than time to attend training. The benefit to your job is relevant but brief, with little detail about how the skills would improve your daily work. The letter is also 18 words below the required minimum, leaving limited space to explain these points. Add the course schedule and a specific workplace example.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The information follows a generally sensible order: you introduce the course, make your request, explain its benefits, and close the letter. This makes the main purpose easy to identify. The links “because,” “also,” and “It is useful for me” help connect ideas, and the response is not difficult to follow. However, the letter is presented as one continuous block rather than in clear paragraphs, and some connections are abrupt—for instance, the move from the course duration to the request for fees and holidays. Use separate paragraphs for the course and request, then the job benefits. A clearer sequence of details and more precise links between them would make the organisation feel more controlled.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use enough relevant vocabulary to communicate the basic topic, including “customer service course,” “course fee,” “provide good service,” and “problem-solving skill.” These phrases show awareness of the workplace context. However, the range is limited and several noticeable spelling or word-choice errors reduce accuracy, such as “servise,” “postive,” and “handle customer.” Some expressions are also unnatural, including “in a postive way” and “share my experience with my colleague.” Choose more precise collocations and check spelling carefully. For example, you could describe the course as developing “customer-service skills” and say that you want to “handle customer enquiries more effectively.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

Most of the message can be understood, and you attempt to connect ideas in longer sentences, such as “It is useful for me because it helps me to deal with customer, provide good service and also improve my problem-solving skill.” However, the range of sentence structures is limited, and frequent errors affect accuracy. Examples include “Im writting this letter to to get permission,” “I had seen an advertisement,” and “I requesting you,” which show problems with verb forms and sentence construction. There are also errors with articles and plurals, as in “handle customer.” Use straightforward, complete sentences and check that each has a correctly formed subject and verb. Practising requests with “I am writing to ask…” would help.

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

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