Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-09-14

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 5.0)

Dear sir,

I am writing this letter to take a permission for you. Recently, I saw an advertisement of the training course which is about coding. it is about the training course for coding and it is only for 10 days but the sad part is the course is offline and i have to go to another city for the taining. This course is very beneficial for our company too. by learning this course i can apply this methods to my work. so, i want to take leave for this days. Ihope you give me holiday. i am looking for your response.

yours sincerely,

Anonymous

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 4.5

The response attempts to cover all parts of the prompt, including describing a coding training course, mentioning the need for company help in the form of leave, and stating how it will be useful for work. However, the development is very basic and lacks sufficient detail. For instance, the description of the course is repetitive and vague ("it is about a training course for coding and it is only for 10 days"). Furthermore, the response falls significantly short of the required 150-word minimum, containing only 105 words. This under-length severely restricts the student's ability to fully extend and support their ideas, leading to a Band 4.5 score for Task Achievement.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The letter lacks proper paragraphing, as it is written as a single dense block of text, which significantly hinders the structural flow. While basic cohesive devices like "and", "so", and "but" are used to link clauses, referencing and transitions are often repetitive and mechanical. For example, the progression of ideas jumps abruptly from describing the course to asking for leave without smooth transitional phrases. There is no clear overall organisational structure typical of formal correspondence, resulting in a performance that aligns with Band 5.0 descriptors.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is basic and repetitive, relying heavily on simple high-frequency words such as "training course", "company", "work", and "days". There are noticeable lexical errors and awkward word choices, such as "take a permission for you" instead of "ask for your permission" or "request leave", and "learning this course" instead of "taking this course" or "attending this training". The range of vocabulary is minimally adequate for the task, but lacks flexibility or precision, restricting the score to Band 5.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The text shows a very limited range of grammatical structures, consisting mainly of simple sentences and basic compound sentences joined by coordinating conjunctions. There are several grammatical errors and punctuation mistakes, including lowercase starting letters at the beginning of sentences ("it is about...", "i have to go...", "i hope..."), incorrect articles, and awkward prepositional usage ("take a permission for you"). Although the meaning remains mostly clear despite these errors, the lack of complex structures and frequent basic mistakes place this response firmly in the Band 5.0 category.

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

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