Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-10-28

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 this finds you well. I recently came across an advertisement on Manchester university about Occupational Safety for Overhead Transmission line.

well, i have always had the urge to do a course on Safety procedures and control measures during Work place and in particular high Voltage Electrical Engineering. In addition it will be a boast to our company which deals majorly on High Voltage Transmission.

However, the University requires the learner to provide a recommendation from the current company, Full accomodations from the company and the air transport if necessary.

The course will be agame changer especially to the height workers recently employed, The course will outline various ways on how to perform rescue incas

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You identify a relevant course—“Occupational Safety for Overhead Transmission line”—and mention the company recommendation, accommodation and air transport, so the main topic and some requested support are present. You also connect the training to the company’s high-voltage work and newly employed workers. However, the letter is incomplete: the final sentence stops at “rescue incas,” leaving the course’s practical benefits unclear, and the request for help is listed rather than explained or politely made. The response is also 32 words below the required minimum, which limits how fully you can develop the three points. To strengthen the response, complete the explanation of job benefits and clearly state what support you are requesting.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The ideas follow a generally sensible order: you introduce the advertisement, explain your interest, identify what the university requires, and begin describing workplace benefits. Paragraph breaks help distinguish these stages. However, the progression is weakened by the abrupt ending at “rescue incas,” which leaves the final point unfinished, and transitions such as “well” and “However” do not always clarify the relationship between ideas. The letter would be easier to follow if each task point had a complete, focused paragraph and the request were linked explicitly to the course requirements. Use a clear closing paragraph to summarise the support sought and invite your manager’s response.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use relevant topic vocabulary, including “Occupational Safety,” “control measures,” “High Voltage Electrical Engineering,” and “Transmission,” which gives the letter a clear professional context. There are also attempts at less common expressions, such as “game changer.” Some word choices and spelling, however, reduce precision: “boast” appears to mean “boost,” “Full accomodations” is unclear, and “height workers” is not a natural term for workers at height. Capitalisation is also inconsistent, as in “Work place” and “high Voltage.” Choose standard technical collocations and check spelling and word forms. More precise vocabulary would help explain the course content and the practical support you need.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and more developed sentence forms, including the sentence beginning “I recently came across an advertisement” and the longer explanation of the course’s relevance. The main meaning is usually recoverable, but some grammatical and punctuation errors remain. For example, “I hope” should begin with a capital letter, and “the University requires the learner to provide” shifts awkwardly from your personal request to a general learner. The final sentence is incomplete, so its grammatical structure cannot be followed. Review sentence boundaries and ensure each sentence has a complete clause; also use consistent capitalisation and punctuation. Completing the final thought would make your range of structures clearer.

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

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