Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-09-15

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

Iam writing to express my interest in advanced project management course which I saw advertised recently. I beleive this will help me in polishing my skills for future and current roles.

I will be really helpful if company could help me in providing financial support throughout my entire course also if company could cover my living expenses too this will help me in managing my budget which would keep me stress free and I can focus on my studies to attain my targets .

There are several things that would be learnt after completing this course at first I would become proficient in handling the company projects with given time frame. Also this course will teach me how to increase company's goodwill by attaining targets.

Thankyou for considering my request I hope to hearing from you soon

Yours Faithfully

Ramandeep kaur

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The candidate has addressed all parts of the task prompt: she described the advanced project management course, explained how the company could help by providing financial support and covering living expenses, and stated how it would be useful for her current and future roles by helping her handle projects within a given time frame and increase company goodwill. However, there is a penalty applied because the word count is 145 words, which falls short of the mandatory 150-word minimum requirement. Furthermore, while the ideas are relevant, some parts like the explanation of company support could be slightly more fully developed. For these reasons, the response is awarded a band score of 5.5.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The letter exhibits a basic logical organisation with a clear overall arrangement of ideas, moving from the introduction of the course to financial requests and finally to the benefits. Paragraphing is attempted, but the text is clumped into overly dense blocks of text rather than clearly separated paragraphs for each point. Cohesive devices are used, but they are sometimes mechanical or overused, such as starting consecutive sentences with 'also if company could' and 'at first I would'. Paragraph transitions could be smoother and referencing is occasionally unclear. Overall, the structural control aligns well with the descriptors for Band 5.5.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, with attempts at less common items such as 'proficient', 'financial support', and 'goodwill'. However, there are noticeable spelling and word choice errors throughout the text, including 'beleive' instead of believe, 'Iam' instead of I am, and awkward phrasing such as 'polishing my skills for future and current roles'. While these errors do not severely impede communication, they restrict the lexical score. The range of vocabulary is limited but minimally adequate, fitting comfortably into Band 5.5.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as conditional and relative structures. However, frequent grammatical errors occur, including a lack of capitalization, missing articles ('in advanced project management course', 'if company could'), and run-on sentences with comma splices (e.g., 'throughout my entire course also if company could...'). Punctuation is weak, particularly with missing periods at sentence endings and incorrect capitalization of 'Thankyou' and 'Yours Faithfully'. These frequent errors require some effort from the reader to parse, capping the performance at a Band 5.0.

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

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