Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-10-03

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

I am writing to request an approval to join a course workplace safety which wil start in october 10th this month.

This course illustrate the suitable methodes to provide a safety enviornment to work as protecting company assets. According to the course the company should provide a written letter of approval to attend the course, as providing transportation to the training center.

In my pont of perspective this course will help our company to secure our resources with the latest safty methodes, as I will be able to avoid any future problem with mimimum cost and I will conduct training to our employess in each section in the company to ensure maximum safety for both assets and individuals.

Many recent losses in our company wil be elminated after procceding the safety policies.

I am look forward to receving your approval to attend the course.

Yours faithfully

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses the main parts of the task by describing the training course, mentioning what the company can do to help, and stating how it will be useful for the job. However, the length requirement was not met, as the text contains 148 words, falling just short of the minimum 150-word threshold. Furthermore, some ideas remain limited and under-developed. For instance, the explanation of how the company could help touches on a written letter of approval and transportation, but these points are expressed somewhat vaguely. To reach a higher band, the response must meet the minimum length requirement and extend the ideas with more specific details and clearer elaboration.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

There is some basic organisation with an attempt at paragraphing, though the progression of ideas is not entirely clear throughout the letter. The opening greeting does not match the prompt's instruction ('Dear Sir or Madam,'), and the overall sequencing feels a bit disjointed. Cohesive devices are used minimally and sometimes inappropriately, such as relying heavily on 'as' to link clauses where more precise conjunctions or transitional phrases would be better. Paragraphing is also inconsistent, with several short, abrupt blocks of text instead of well-developed paragraphs. To improve, the writer should ensure a more logical progression from describing the course to outlining company assistance and practical benefits, while employing a wider and more accurate range of cohesive devices.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is limited and minimally adequate for the task, with noticeable errors in spelling, word choice, and word form that occasionally cause difficulty for the reader. Examples of lexical errors include 'wil' (will), 'methodes' (methods), 'enviornment' (environment), 'pont of perspective' (point of view/perspective), 'safty' (safety), 'employess' (employees), 'elminated' (eliminated), and 'procceding' (proceeding). These frequent spelling and lexical slips restrict the score. To achieve a higher band, the writer needs to demonstrate a wider range of vocabulary, use less common lexical items accurately, and significantly improve spelling and word choice.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The response displays a limited range of sentence structures, relying mostly on simple sentences and basic complex forms that frequently contain errors. There are frequent grammatical mistakes relating to prepositions, articles, and verb forms, such as 'request an approval' (uncountable noun), 'a course workplace safety' (missing prepositions/word order), and 'wil start in october 10th' (incorrect preposition use). While these errors do not completely obscure the message, they cause noticeable strain for the reader. To move up, the writer must incorporate a wider variety of complex structures with greater accuracy and reduce the frequency of basic grammatical errors.

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

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