Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-10-05

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 hope you are doing well.

I am writing this letter to submit a professional training suggestion and seek your approval regarding it.

Yesterday, an online advertisement for a training course catched my eye. The training is for Health and Safety professionals and provides internationally recognized certificates, also it is useful both for me and for the company. So i thouhgt maybe I could take it.

For the above, I am requesting if the company could finance me to attend the training. Also, to have your support; as you know I need some flexibility in the working time to be able to attend.

The training is very beneficial for my job and for the company, as I will be well trained in the occupational health and safety, for its huge impact on the employees safety and company reputation. other than that, I will be ready for the company certifications next year.

I am looking forward to hearing from you and counting on your support.

Best regards,

Iheb.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses all parts of the prompt, as you successfully describe the training course about occupational health and safety, explain what help you need from the company regarding financing and schedule flexibility, and outline how the course will be useful for your job. However, some aspects of the task are only partially developed. For instance, the description of the course is rather vague, mentioning only that it is for 'Health and Safety professionals and provides internationally recognized certificates.' Furthermore, the explanation of how it will be useful relies on general statements like 'its huge impact on the employees safety' rather than fully expanding on specific tasks or duties in your current role that the training will improve. To reach a higher level, you should extend and support all your ideas with more specific details and clearer justifications.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The letter maintains an overall coherent arrangement and a recognizable format for professional correspondence, opening with an appropriate salutation and closing. Information is generally presented in a logical sequence, moving from your reason for writing to the course details, the request for support, and finally the benefits. Paragraphing is utilized to separate your main points. However, the progression between ideas sometimes feels a bit mechanical or abrupt, particularly in transitions like 'For the above, I am requesting' and 'other than that, I will be ready.' Referencing is mostly clear, but cohesive devices are occasionally basic or awkward. To achieve a stronger score, you would need to ensure smoother logical progression between sentences and paragraphs using a wider and more flexible variety of cohesive devices naturally.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

Your vocabulary is adequate for the task, allowing you to communicate your main points about professional training and company support. You attempt some less common vocabulary items and phrases, such as 'internationally recognized certificates,' 'occupational health and safety,' and 'company reputation.' Nevertheless, there are noticeable lexical errors and issues with word choice and spelling that prevent a higher score. For example, 'catched my eye' contains a spelling error for the irregular past tense form, 'thouhgt' contains a typo, and the phrasing 'finance me to attend' is slightly unnatural compared to 'sponsor' or 'fund.' These minor inaccuracies do not impede communication, but to move up, you need to use a wider range of vocabulary with greater precision, better collocation, and zero spelling errors.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The response demonstrates a mix of simple and some complex sentence forms, such as 'I am writing this letter to submit a professional training suggestion and seek your approval regarding it.' You show control over basic verb tenses like the present continuous and simple present. However, there are noticeable grammatical errors and awkward phrasing throughout the text, including punctuation slips such as lowercase letters at the start of sentences ('So i thouhgt...'), and prepositional or structural issues in clauses like 'I am requesting if the company could finance me' instead of asking whether or requesting that they fund it. Complex sentence attempts occasionally contain errors, and punctuation is sometimes faulty. To attain a higher band, you would need to produce a greater variety of error-free complex structures with consistent control over grammar and punctuation.

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

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