Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-08-06

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,

How are you? Today, I saw a advertisement of a training course, which included learning different kind of languages to support your future. So I choose French because they are saying that I can learn this language within three months , which is really surprisingly for me as other instituations take approximately one whole year to teach French.

Moreover, I requesting you that can I get three months holidays from company so that I just spend my whole time on learning new language because If i learn this new language along with company's work then It will be difficult for me to create balance between both work.

After learning this course, It helps me to improve my communication skills in French language, which will be brings benefits to company as many clients just speak French, so it is difficult for company's employees to deal with them. But by learning French I can talk with them and they can become a part of our company.

I hope you understand this and give me a chance to learn that training course.

your faithfully,

Rajveer Kaur

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The letter addresses all three bullet points: describing the course, requesting company support, and explaining the benefits. However, the tone is inconsistent for a formal business letter. The opening 'How are you?' is too informal, and the request for 'three months holidays' is phrased in a way that lacks professional nuance. While the ideas are relevant, the development is somewhat simplistic. To reach a higher band, the student should adopt a more professional register and provide more specific details about the course content rather than just the duration.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The letter is organised into logical paragraphs, each focusing on one of the required points. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'Moreover' and 'After learning this course', though some transitions feel a bit mechanical. The referencing is generally clear, but the flow between sentences is occasionally interrupted by grammatical errors. The paragraphing is appropriate for a formal letter, and the overall progression of ideas is easy to follow, which satisfies the requirements for a Band 6.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is adequate for the task but lacks variety and precision. There are several word-choice errors, such as 'a advertisement' (should be 'an'), 'different kind of languages' (should be 'kinds'), and 'surprisingly' (should be 'surprising'). The student relies on basic phrasing, such as 'give me a chance' and 'deal with them'. To improve, the student should focus on using more precise business-related collocations and ensuring correct word forms are used in context.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The response contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors that occasionally impede the flow. Examples include 'I requesting you that can I get', 'which will be brings benefits', and 'If i learn... then It will be'. There are also issues with article usage and subject-verb agreement. While the meaning is generally clear, the high frequency of errors prevents the writing from reaching a higher band. More attention to basic sentence construction and proofreading is necessary.

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

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