Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-08-22

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 6.5)

Dear Sir or Madam,

I am writing this letter because I saw an advertisement for the PMP training course which is basically a 4 week course with exam in end to get the certification. As you know, I am Project manager at our company with 3 years of experience, I am eligible to do this course.

I would really appreciate if you can provide me with some information whether the company will cover the cost of the examination and the course or not as it is quite expensive.It will be really helpful to me if you can help me with the course and I would also like to apply for leave for a couple of days as this course requires some time and concentration to ace it.

The course is helpful to my current job as it gives me more knowledge about how to handle complex projects and how to handle all the risks associated with them. I believe that the course will benefit me in gaining all the necessary skills and knowledge for the future projects that I will be working on.

Thank you,

Kind Regards,

Kshama Parekh

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

The letter successfully addresses all three bullet points required by the task. You clearly describe the PMP course, explain the support needed from your manager (financial coverage and leave), and justify the course's relevance to your role. The tone is appropriate for a professional request. To reach a higher band, you could provide more specific details about the course content or the exact dates of the leave requested to make the proposal more persuasive and realistic. Overall, the response is well-focused and meets all requirements of the prompt.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The letter is logically organized, with each paragraph dedicated to one of the required points. The progression of ideas is clear, moving from the introduction of the course to the request for support and finally the justification. You use basic cohesive devices like 'As you know' and 'I would also like to'. However, the flow could be improved by using a wider variety of linking words and transition phrases to connect sentences more fluidly. The paragraphing is appropriate, and the letter follows a standard professional structure.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'certification', 'eligible', and 'complex projects'. However, the vocabulary is somewhat repetitive and lacks sophistication. For instance, you use 'helpful' twice in close proximity. To improve, try to incorporate more precise professional collocations and avoid overusing simple adjectives. While your word choice is clear and does not impede communication, it remains at a functional level rather than a more advanced or varied one.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as 'I am writing this letter because...' and 'I would really appreciate if you can...'. There are some minor grammatical errors, such as 'exam in end' (should be 'at the end') and 'information whether' (should be 'information on whether'). Additionally, there is a punctuation error where a space is missing after a period ('expensive.It'). While these errors are noticeable, they do not impede the overall meaning of your request. Increasing the variety of complex structures would help improve this score.

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

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