Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-11-13

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,

I am writing this letter to express my keen interest to join a Cyber-Security training course to improve my skills and knowledge. I believe that it will be useful for my career as well.

I would like to know when the next course will begin and how long will it last. I would also appreciate it if you could provide details about the course fees and payment due date.

Furthermore, my major subject is IT programmer where I believe learning a course related to my field will increase my chances for a promotion to a higher position and increase in income. Because, our company has recently started hiring for managing the security department as we are short of people. As a result, my chances will be high to get hired for a higher position.

I look forward to receive your response and hope to join your course soon.

Yours sincerely,

Yesha Patel

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.5

You identify the course as cyber-security training and explain that it could support promotion into the company’s security department, so the letter has a relevant purpose. However, the task asks you to write to your manager, while the opening and closing (“Dear Sir or Madam” and “Yours sincerely”) make this sound like an enquiry to the course provider. More importantly, you do not explain what the company could do to help you, such as paying the fees, allowing time off, or adjusting your workload. The course itself is also described only briefly. To address the task more fully, include practical support you are requesting and give a little more detail about the training and its direct workplace benefits.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The letter has a recognisable sequence: you introduce your interest, ask about course details, explain a career benefit, and close politely. Paragraph breaks help separate these points, and linking expressions such as “Furthermore” and “As a result” show how ideas relate. However, the progression is weakened because the questions about course dates, duration, and fees do not serve the stated purpose of writing to your manager. The final paragraph also repeats the idea of gaining a higher position, while the requested company support is absent. The connector “Because” begins a sentence fragment, interrupting the flow. Organise the body around the three task points and use clearer links between the course, the support requested, and the job benefit.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range for a formal workplace letter, including relevant terms such as “Cyber-Security training course,” “security department,” and “promotion.” These make your general meaning clear. There are, however, some awkward or imprecise choices: “keen interest to join” is less natural than “keen interest in attending,” and “major subject is IT programmer” does not clearly describe your role or background. “Increase in income” is understandable but sounds less precise in this context than “salary increase.” The repeated use of “increase” and “higher position” also limits variety. Aim for natural collocations and precise job-related vocabulary, for example, “IT programmer,” “cybersecurity skills,” and “take on greater responsibility.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex forms, including the conditional structure “I would also appreciate it if you could provide details” and a relative clause beginning “where I believe.” Most sentences communicate the intended meaning, but some grammatical errors remain. In “how long will it last,” indirect-question word order should be “how long it will last.” “I look forward to receive” needs a gerund: “I look forward to receiving.” The sentence beginning “Because” is incomplete, and “increase my chances for a promotion … and increase in income” has an unclear parallel structure. Review indirect questions, verb patterns after fixed expressions, and sentence boundaries; these changes would make your otherwise understandable writing more controlled.

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

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