Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-08-25

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 6.0)

Dear Sir or Madam,

I am writing this letter to request a time off for a month. I have seen an advert on the company's site regarding a short term course on digital marketing. Firstly, I think it is a great opportunity to learn something new which will benefit the company in terms of marketing. As we are aware, the company is spending a lot on marketing agencies. It would be profitable, if one of your employee gets enrolled in the course.

I have a background study of Master's in computer applications and I am quiet confident in using digital tools. Typically, the only skill, I lack is a professional training course and this is the right time to work on it. Moreover, this course will enhance my skills and learning I did five years ago. Digital marketing is a booming industry and having a strong hand on all the tools and tricks to market the product is a profitable business for the company and personally an asset for me.

I request the company to approve my one month paid leave. Furthermore, the only reason I am asking for a salary is because I do not want to suffer from the burden of managing my finances for a month and as it will benefit both the parties, I think it is the right demand to put forward.

I hope to hear from you.

Yours faithfully,

Harman

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

You have addressed all three bullet points of the prompt: describing the course, explaining how the company can help, and justifying the utility of the course. However, the tone is somewhat inappropriate for a formal request to a manager. Phrases like 'it is the right demand to put forward' sound demanding rather than professional or persuasive. While the ideas are relevant, the development of the 'how the company can help' section is slightly blunt. To improve, ensure your tone remains consistently polite and professional throughout the letter, focusing on the mutual benefits rather than making demands.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The letter is logically organized with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. You use transition words such as 'Firstly', 'Moreover', and 'Furthermore' to connect your ideas. However, some transitions feel a bit mechanical. The paragraphing is appropriate, and the progression of ideas is easy to follow. To reach a higher band, try to vary your cohesive devices and ensure that the links between sentences are more natural and less reliant on simple list-like connectors.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'digital marketing', 'profitable', and 'asset'. There are some minor inaccuracies in word choice, such as 'having a strong hand on' (which is not a standard idiom; 'a strong grasp of' would be better) and 'quiet confident' (a spelling error for 'quite'). While the vocabulary is sufficient to convey your meaning clearly, it lacks the sophistication or precision required for higher bands. Focus on using more precise collocations and checking for common spelling errors.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are several grammatical errors, such as 'request a time off' (should be 'request time off'), 'one of your employee' (should be 'employees'), and 'I do not want to suffer from the burden' (which is slightly unnatural phrasing). Punctuation is generally functional, but there are some unnecessary commas, such as in 'the only skill, I lack'. While these errors do not impede communication, they are frequent enough to prevent a higher score. Focus on subject-verb agreement and article usage.

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

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